Both Salt and Pepper were here last night. The evening started with Ms. Pepper making an appearance at 9:34pm sitting on the side branch. Looking nice and comfy until 10pm, when she seemed to chase something away. Returning in five minutes, and taking a preening and resting break, all is well until 11:10; when she is alerted to another passerby and off she goes in pursuit. It's very quiet for the rest of the night, just about to give up seeing them, when out of the night sky an owl lands on the roof of the owl box...who is that...we all asked; then the owl flew to the side branch......
Salt we all exclaim! No wait maybe it's Pepper and the uncertainty sets in. This is to be expected I think to myself, we haven't seen either one for almost two months - an occasional sighting of Pepper after that, and not together makes it difficult to confirm which is which. As the owl sat on the side branch I had time to observe, wing patch when the light hit right seemed like our male, then I spotted the ole schnoz sure looked like Salt. Now I could still be wrong, waiting for them to come and sit together and we will all know for sure. The important thing as you will see and hear in the video, is I believe the courtship has begun. Chittering by both could be heard, and screeches once in a while, these goings on are part of the courtship. Here's to a continued courtship and new beginnings!
Did you know?
The Genus name, Tyto, is from the Greek tuto, “a night-owl.” The species name, alba, is from the Latin albus, meaning “white.” The face, front and belly are white.
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