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It took longer than expected to capture the second set of Burrowing Owls and they were brought to Paulden on August 8 instead of late July. That same day, Tent 1 was taken down, allowing those five owls to move to one or more of the other constructed burrows nearby.
Volunteers continued to feed the first owls for one more week, and began to provide mice and fresh water to the four new owls in Tent 2. These owls will be in their tent for a total of four weeks and will be fed for at least five. The tents remain undisturbed and the owls are usually eating all of their mice; a couple of times, heavy rain may have discouraged them from coming out to dine.
Owls from the first group continue to be seen when the feeder volunteers tend to Tent 2; they are most likely hunting grasshoppers and other insects as well as lizards and small rodents.
And in case you're wondering about last year's owls, we just got a report from a feeder volunteer: "After we fed the Tent 2 owls, we checked out last year's site. At least eight of the burrows are currently being used! AND! We saw 10 individual owls! At least two of the owls were without leg bands and were with an adult, I assume they were young owls from this year. Really made my day!"
Thanks, as always, to our dedicated volunteers, and to Wild at Heart, Prescott National Forest and Audubon Southwest!
Photo by Ann Hendrickson
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