Jays, Crows and Owls!

I realize it has been a long time since I updated the blog, and I apologize for not having done so earlier. I hope you take it as a sign of me doing other things besides birdwatching and blogging! Now back to the blog...

Thursday, March 27^th:

10:30 AM, Light rain, Temperature: 8 C (47 F)

Arrived in my office and was welcomed by a pair of jays calling incessantly near the pond. There were also a few interspersed calls of crows. I looked out to find the poor owl being harassed by four birds – a couple of crows accompanied by a couple of jays! They chased the owl from its roost, who made a lazy attempt to get rid of its tormentors by flying towards the bridge. The crows and jays followed in close pursuit and the chase continued in the area between the pond and the bridge until the owl finally found refuge in a clump of branches of a fallen tree.

The owl perched in plain sight, almost directly beneath my office window!

For now it seemed that the owl had made peace with its neighbors and could get on with its daytime roosting. But it was not to last too long. Within fifteen minutes, Jasper was drawn to the commotion, and joined the crows in driving away the ‘intruder’. Jasper made a few swooping flights approaching very close to the owl. The owl got the message and took off to the north past San Martin drive.

Friday, March 28^th:

10:20 AM, Very overcast, Temperature: 15 C (59 F)

One of the owls was again being harassed today near the north side of the pond by jays and crows. It perched for a while on a stump near Olin hall, where it was in relatively plain sight. Here it stayed and preened. I also noticed the second owl roosting peacefully in the clump of the fallen tree. This is one of their favored roosting sights at the pond. In a few minutes, the owl from the stump flew to its partner and both owls seemed to snuggle together. There was certainly a display of mutual connection between the two birds and sometimes their interaction involved locking of beaks together resembling a kiss. It was a rare opportunity just to have both owls here together and to observe their interactions was surely a treat!

The Owl pair is well sheltered in this clump of branches a few feet off the ground.

The pair shifts their roost a little closer to Olin hall. It seems there is not much cover here for the birds, but their camouflage works just fine on this gray afternoon when the contrast is low.

3:00 PM, Temperature 19 C (67 F)

The owl pair decided to shift their roost a little closer to Olin Hall and found a tree near the fence and each picked a branch, one above the other. Here there was not much cover, but their camouflage kept them invisible for almost an hour, when they were discovered by a crow. The first crow quickly called to his buddies and soon there was a gang of five crows surrounding the two owls. One of the owls in this instance was more aggressive and chose to take the fight to the crows. It charged at two of them and then moved to another clump near the fence and over the water. The second owl paid no attention to the crows for a while. When it had enough of the crow ruckus it too drove off one of the crows and joined its partner. There the crows tried to regroup, but soon gave up, leaving all but one crow to carry on its cawing. The aggressive owl soon scared it off and returned to its morning’s perch. The second owl figured it was not worth moving again and stayed put for another 3 hours. Around 7 pm, both owls interacted briefly near the pond and flew off west towards the park.

Finally, a good spot to spend the rest of the day napping in peace!