Kim stayed up into
the wee hours of the morning so I let him sleep while I went for a solo
walk. Three miles to start my day…didn’t
set any speed records but I wasn’t in a hurry.
Kim was up by the time I got back.
He then headed out for a walk while I got some pictures ready to send to
the WonderKids.
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Kept an eye out for
the lizards also but maybe it’s not quite warm enough for them to be out on the
tree. If next week pops up into the 80’s
as predicted I’ll probably be seeing them soon.
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Since Kim isn’t riding this year he’s making a ‘camper
project list’ and first up is changing out the regular outlets in the main area
of the camper with USB outlets. Yesterday
we went to Home Depot in Casa Grande and he thought he had all necessary items
to do the job. But it turns out the
existing outlets boxes are not as deep as the type of outlets we bought. Not that we had any option…those were the
only white USB outlets that Home Depot had in stock. Went back to Home Depot
today so Kim could get going on his list.
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Kim got started on
the outlets and I took a ride to check on the saguaro nest. I wanted to see if the owl was still sitting
on it. The search I did on Great Horned Owls last night indicated that what
I saw was a female incubating eggs. Remembering the admonishment I got from a
man last year about doing research on Google vs. research at the library (his
thought being that the library is the only place where one can do research), I
made sure the sites I visited had some credibility: allaboutbirds.com,
audubon.org, and azgfd.com
(an Arizona Fish and Game site). This
is what I learned about the nesting habits of Great Horned Owls:
NEST
PLACEMENT: Great Horned Owls
nest in a wider variety of sites than any other bird in the Americas. The owls
most commonly use nests built by other species in whatever tree is available,
but also use cavities in trees and snags, cliffs, deserted buildings, artificial
platforms, ledges, and pipes, and will even lay eggs on the ground. Great
Horned Owls do not engage in nest building; although, they may line nests with
shreds of bark, leaves, fur of prey, trampled pellets, or feathers. Only one
nest is used per year. Often a tree nest deteriorates so much during a season’s
use by a Great Horned Owl that few can be used again in a subsequent season.
However, a sturdy nest that stands up to a year’s wear and tear may be reused
again.
NEST
DESCRIPTION: Nests often consist of
sticks and vary widely in size, depending on which species originally built the
nest (usually Red-tailed Hawks, other hawk species, crows, ravens, herons, or
squirrels). Great Horned Owls may line the nest with shreds of bark, leaves,
downy feathers plucked from their own breast, fur or feathers from prey, or
trampled pellets. In some areas they add no lining at all. Nests deteriorate
over the course of the breeding season, and are seldom reused in later years.
REPRODUCTION: Great
Horned Owls are monogamous, meaning they mate with the same owl each year as
long as that mate is available. They will usually start their nesting behavior
around late December to early January in Arizona, and will continue their time
on the nest until about mid to late May. Their clutch size will range anywhere
from 1-6 eggs, with the average resulting in 2 eggs per clutch. They only lay
eggs once per year with an incubation period of about 28 – 35 days. Once
hatched, the owlets will stay in the nest for another 42 days, flying to nearby
branches and other perches about 5 weeks after hatching. The hatching of the
eggs will typically happen in mid to late February through March. Both parents
will bring the young owlets food in the nest, and both parents will tend to the
young for the first several months of life.
**Note:
azgfd.com has a live GHO webcam set up at a barn nest. I visited it several times but haven’t seen
any activity. The last update about a
sighting was from Jan. 5, 2021 so maybe the nest hasn’t been used in over a
year. Also, I’m going to make a note for myself to check the ‘bat cam’ tomorrow
to see if the bats are roosting during the day. As expected, the roost is empty
at night.**
I figured if I saw the owl again today
that meant I had found an active owl nest. She was there and looked to be in the exact
same position on the nest as yesterday. So
I’ll visit every now and again to check on her and maybe before we leave there’ll
be an opportunity to see what’s in the nest. Not interested in harassing the
birds, though. If we do encounter an
empty nest we’ll just have to make sure to keep an eye skyward so we won’t be
dive bombed by an angry owl parent.
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I had
only intended to ride as far as the nest and then turn around. But the day was too delightful to do just a
short ride so I called Kim and told him I was riding the Tom Mix loop again but
in reverse. At the start of my ride it was 72o and riding in just a
long sleeve shirt felt so good but by the time I stopped in Coolidge I needed a
jacket. By that time it was down to 64o
which is warm by Michigan standards but on the bike it feels a little cool.
Got
back to camp to find the truck gone and the outlet change-out still in
progress. It’s always tricky to undo
somebody else’s aftermarket add-ons so it took some time to figure all the
wiring out and then Kim couldn’t find his electrical tape so he headed to the
nearby truck stop to get some. He pulled
in not long after I did and the outlet has been changed and is fully functional. Charging cords already occupy both USB
ports. Tomorrow he’ll do the other one
and anticipates it will go much quicker than the first one. Then it’s on to fixing the shower wall.
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When
I parked my bike I glanced over at the camper and caught a flurry of feathers
falling from the tree…like a snowstorm of feathers. What the
hell?! And I had a sense of
something flying overhead but was too mystified by the falling feathers to look
up; however, when I walked over to look at the feathers I did see a medium-sized
bird land on the top of the nearby telephone pole. There was also a scattering of feathers on a
wide tree limb. A murder mystery, for
sure.
Picture quality turned out slightly grainy because
dusk was coming on and I had to zoom so far; however the video I took came out
clear. The falcon was actually plucking
the feathers off its prey and letting them fly, creating just a small flurry of
feathers. Creepy and fascinating at the
same time.
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Bike miles today: 94
Total bike miles: 197
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