Local Doings

The blog has been on the back burner for a while. I have a couple of longer posts that need to be written, but for now, some local updates.

 

We had a scare regarding the barred owls. For a few days we saw the male bringing food (small snakes, fish, birds) to the nest, and waiting perplexedly outside. Barred owls and some others (screech owls) are highly specialized; the males hunt but the females tear up the prey and feed it to the chicks. Several times we saw the male enter the nest with a food item ... and later emerging still clutching the morsel. He's not wired to feed the babies. What had happened to mom?

Fortunately their normal activity resumed after a few days. Last week, during a very wet spell, I took these photos of the male sitting at the nest opening.

Whoooo are you?

Keeping an eye out.

We hope to see the youngsters, sooner or later, but their debut will not be announced ahead of time. It could be in the middle of the night!

 

The house across the street, an eye-pleasing brick two-story,

August 2019

acquired new owners last year. We saw signs of a plethora of interior updates, but never got a tour 😞. In the last two weeks the exterior was transformed, into white paint all over the brick.

In progress; plastic covers the windows.

The finished product ... click on the image to enlarge.

 

The house to our north sold for a very high price. The previous owners (the fourth set while we've been here) did interior reno so it remains to be seen if anything will happen there. The new management hasn't moved in yet -- we're a looong way from Arizona, and the movers can't seem to find their way.