Adventures With Mel & Syd

SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Adventures with Mel and Syd

Due to lack of activity in and around the owlbox, the blog will be taking a much needed rest but will be back when they're is news to report on our couple Mel and Sydney.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Adventures with Mel and Syd

Everyone wants to know will they or wont they be on the way to a new summer / fall clutch. The answer is maybe yes or maybe no. Research states that barn owls can nest at anytime depending on food supply and have been known to have up to 3 clutches in a year, some even starting a new brood while they still have nestlings in the nest.

A fact is that we have only seen 2 bondings while in the box and they were more or less half heart felt if there is such a thing, but there is always a chance that bonding may be occurring while out of camera view. Many gander that Mel and Sydney are just using the box to keep a claim on it at this point in the season and are only roosting. The past 3 years we have seen both Mel and Sydney in the summer months in the box and never has a second clutch been produced, but there is always a first time for everything.