Pre-Nesting Stage
This next stage is the Pre-Nesting stage. During this stage the following actives take place.
Hooting will begin (if not already started during the last stage).
The female will modify the nest depression - she will move nest debris around and push and move back and forth with her chest to make a cup in the nest.
They will mate within their territory (rarely does this occur on the nest).
08 January
She arrived at the nest at 5:25.29PM. Unfortunately the sound is still not working but we can tell from the body movement that she is hooting, rather than the calls she made previously. She is also observed modifying the nest depression. She left at 5:29.42PM. (Video Below)
The photo stamped “01-08-2022 Sat 17:27:18” is the female as she is modifying the nest depression.
Time on nest - Approximately 4 minutes
Weather: Clear, 31F S winds, 6mph, gusts 11mph
Watch the Video -
The video covers the time the nest was visited on 08 Jan, at 5:25.29PM.
Note: There is no sound (cam not recording sound at the time).
Watch the Video -
10 January
She arrived at the nest at 5:21.08PM. She appears to hoot (still no sound though), modifies the nest depression and hoots some more before leaving the nest at 5:28.55PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 7 minutes
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 32F NW winds, 21mph, gusts 31mph
12 January PM / 13 January AM
The sound was fixed, but the direction needs some adjustment. Both owls began hooting at 8:31PM. It was somewhat close to the nest, it then became more distant and stopped around 8:45.
At 6:13.34AM the male came to the nest with a prey item (unidentified rodent). They hooted back and forth, while he stayed on the nest. She came to the nest at 6:38.05 and both took off a second later.
Time on nest - Male - Approximately 25 minutes, female 1 second.
Weather: PM - Clear, 38F SE winds, 7mph, gusts 10mph
AM - Partly Cloudy, 32F SE winds, 2mph, gusts 4mph
Watch the Video -
The video covers the time the nest was visited on 13 Jan, at 6:13.34AM.
Note: There is a slight delay in the sound.
Watch the Video -
13 January
She arrived at the nest at 6:58.48PM. She modifies the nest depression and leaves the nest at 7:02.08PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 4 minutes
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 39F NE winds, 6mph, gusts 9mph
15 January
She arrived at the nest at 10:25.20PM. She modifies the nest depression and hoots. The male is also heard hooting. She left at 10:41.27PM. (Video Below)
The photo stamped “01-15-2022 Sat 22:32:08” is the female.
Time on nest - Approximately 16 minutes
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 22F NE winds, 9mph, gusts 12mph
Watch the Video -
The video covers the time she was on the nest on 15 Jan, at 10:25.20PM.
17 January
She arrived at the nest at 5:48.15PM. She modifies the nest depression and left at 5:56.39. There was no vocalization.
Time on nest - Approximately 8 minutes
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 35F W winds, 25mph, gusts 37mph
18 January
Hooting begins at 11:30PM. She arrived at the nest at 11:34.24PM. She and the male are both hooting. She modifies the nest depression and left at 11:37.53. The hooting continues till approximately 11:58PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 3 minutes
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 31F SW winds, 4mph, gusts 6mph
Note: I have recorded the hooting prior to the nest visit. You may want to turn your speakers down slightly, I have amplified the recording.
22 January AM
There was hooting the night before at 5:45PM for about 10 minutes. She arrived at the nest at 03:58.58AM. She modifies the nest depression and left at 04:00.55.
Time on nest - Approximately 2 minutes
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 21F NE winds, 12mph, gusts 17mph
27 January PM
She arrived at the nest at 5:32:20PM. She modified the nest depression and left at 05:42.21PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 10 minutes
Weather: Clear, 30F S winds, 8mph, gusts 11mph
Still monitoring the nest - I was in Costa Rica from 24 Jan - 1 Feb. While there I continued to monitor the nest, but the internet I was on was very slow at times and this made it difficult to get an accurate rewind. In addition the camera was down some hours during that period. I was able to note the nest visit on 27 Jan, but I may have missed visit(s) during that period. Since 2 Feb I have not noticed a nest visit.
The she arrives at 08:47.16PM, they hoot to each other, she modifies the nest depression and left at 09:08.14PM.
Note: Another observer contacted me (thank you) to say that he saw the two owls on the nest during this time period. I missed this during my rewind. I did review the beginning and saw the modifying of the nest which the female does, this implies the male was the one who flew in afterward, she then immediately flew off the nest.
Total time on nest - Approximately 15 minutes
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 43F S winds, 4mph, gusts 8mph
10 February PM
11 February AM
The female arrives at 06:53.21AM, they hoot to each other and she modifies the nest depression, she left at 06:56.11.
Time on nest - Approximately 3 minutes
Weather: Clear, 33F S winds, 3mph, gusts 6mph
15 February PM
Both owls could be heard hooting - this began about 6:00PM. They were a distance from the nest, they got closer, then again at a distance and stopped about 6:23PM.
19 February PM
The female arrives at 03:35.58AM, she modifies the nest depression, then spends the rest of the time hooting, getting a response from the male, she left at 03:50.14AM.
Time on nest - Approximately 14 minutes
Weather: Clear, 30F NW winds, 6mph, gusts 7mph
This video does not reflect the full nest visit, only the first 3.5 minutes.
As noted by a viewer - hooting began at 03:14AM.
26 February - Still monitoring the nest - I have not seen any activity since 19 Feb. Typically the Great Horned Owl will lay eggs in the morning between 8:00AM and 11:00AM. It is approaching late in the season but she could come in and lay the first egg any day now.
I periodically check the Eagle Nest Cam at Blackwater Wildlife Refuge which has been visited on and off by a Great Horned Owl. I see she is on the nest as of this morning at 6:20AM, she left at 6:25AM.
28 February - I’m trying to stay optimistic but as each day passes that is getting more difficult. Our estimates last year were: She laid the eggs between 12-19 Feb, they hatched approximately 21 Mar.
The female arrives at 02:21.01AM, she modifies the nest depression and the pair hoot back and forth, she left at 02:35.34AM.
Time on nest - Approximately 14 minutes
She returns 10 seconds later at 02:35:44, again works on the nest depression, hoots and leaves at 02:49:55.
Additional time on nest - Approximately 14 minutes
Weather: Partly cloudy, 34F SE winds, 9mph, gusts 11mph
01 March AM
03 March AM
A juvenile bald eagle came to visit the nest this morning. It came in at 07:32:20AM and left at 07:34:16.
Time of Nest: Approximately 2 minutes.
03 March PM
The female arrives at 06:35.20PM, 11 seconds later the male arrives. He leaves at 6:36:50PM. They hoot, she works on the nest depression and leaves at 6:41:15PM.
Time on nest - Male approximately 2 minutes, female approximately 6 minutes.
Weather: Partly cloudy, 44F N winds, 17mph, gusts 22mph
04 March PM
At 7:27PM hooting in the vicinity of the nest was heard. It stopped about 7:33PM and started again at 8:17PM for approximately 16 minutes.
07 March
It is now 16 days past our estimated late date of last year. It was encouraging to see the two of them on the nest four days ago and hooting three days ago, but no activity since then is discouraging. Their behavior so far shows pre-nesting, but as each day passes with no egg laying it is looking doubtful. I’m not yet giving up hope, we continue to monitor the nest.
08 March
The female arrives at 06:39.32PM, she works on the nest depression, they hoot back and forth, and she leaves at 6:45:34PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 6 minutes
Weather: Partly cloudy, 43F SE winds, 5mph, gusts 6mph
10 March
The female arrives at 06:41.18PM, they hoot back and forth (I have the sound off due to interference), and she leaves at 6:45:53PM.
She is not preparing the nest. This is not a good sign.
Time on nest - Approximately 5 minutes
Weather: Partly cloudy, 44F W winds, 3mph, gusts 5mph
13 March
The female arrives at 7:09.55PM, they hoot back and forth, she works on the nest depression and leaves at 07:19:08PM.
Judy noticed there may be a third great horned owl hooting.
Note: The video does not reflect the full nest visit.
Time on nest - Approximately 10 minutes
Weather: Clear, 40F W winds, 12mph, gusts 19mph
The female arrives at 01:48.05AM, they hoot back and forth, she works on the nest depression and leaves at 01:56:01PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 8 minutes
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 55F S winds, 7mph, gusts 9mph
15 March AM
15 March PM
The female arrives at 06:35.43PM, she does not modify the nest, she instead is occupied with looking around the woods. She leaves at 06:43:03PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 7 minutes
Weather: Clear, 65F S winds, 7mph, gusts 9mph
This is the last time we observed her on the nest.