The past 6 months or so have been great for our resident eastern screech owls. We’re seeing way more than we normally do at this time of year. Perhaps the unusually wet weather has helped? There are lots of bugs around, and screech owls eat bugs (poor bugs, and – if you ask me – poor owls).
The owls we see here have about a dozen favorite perches spread over our 5 acres. Some are natural, but most have been created by Dan, AKA The Screech Owl Whisperer. Nothing makes him happier than engineering a perch, putting up a camera and infrared lighting, and then videoing a screech owl sitting there thinking “What a nice spot! Perfect height. Great view of the creepy-crawlies. Can’t believe I hadn’t noticed it until now. Silly me”.
This video shows a little owl hunting from one of Dan’s lower perches, and then trilling – calling to absent friends? – from a higher one.
To our surprise, after the owl left to trill elsewhere, a small rat snake oozed its way along the branch – perhaps it was wondering what the screech owl thought was so attractive about it? (Note: We’re also seeing lots of snakes this year, after about 6 or 8 years of scarcity.)
The owl and the rat snake never crossed paths, but it was an interesting juxtaposition: A swift and agile creature of the air followed by a slow and methodical earth-bound reptile – both moving with equal grace.
#texasbackyardwildlife