For your enjoyment

Today I really have to accomplish something other that owl watching. So, I will just post some pics taken yesterday and this morning for your enjoyment. I will put up some video and words later.

Come on.....how cute is that!!!!!!!!!!!

Lukas meets the owls

OK, so right now I am blogging from the owl watching chair. Too many things happening too fast to be in the house!! How cute this must look , me in a chair in my pj's, camera in front of me on a tripod and a computer in my lap. What a wonderful world this is!!! Hey, don't give me any grief you would all do it! For those who Love our Lukas as much as we do, I will follow this up with another Lukas blog.

First, this is one of the owlets deciding to try for the hole. We have decided to name them Rose, Sophia, and Blanche. OK, so Sarah came up with the names and I decided to go with it. So we will call this one Sophia. Since she was the spunky one on the Golden Girls.

What is out there????

It took a lot of effort but she finally made it. Now to see what all is out there.

Not so fast as Blanche has decided she also wants to give the outside world a try.

How do you fit 2 owlets in a 10 inch hole???

With a lot of effort.......

A lot of pushing and shoving and flapping.......

And finally success!!!!!!!

Whew, that was hard to watch. We are always waiting for the moment one of them falls.

Here you can view the process.

Now for the important part of the story!

Lukas came for a visit yesterday and of course he was excited to meet the owls. OK ,so I know he doesn't look too excited here but I assure you he was!!!

The owlets were not putting on a very good show at the moment, but he continued to watch , what a little trooper.
Here you can see he was an very active participant in the viewing and although you can't see it here he helped with all the camera work also!!



When he got a little tired of watching owls he wanted to just chill. So grandma set him up with a very comfy spot.
Although these pictures were taken yesterday I wanted to give you a little update for the morning. I came out to find one of the owlets has left the box. She is currently sitting in a tree near the box and asking for some food. I would love to sit here and continue to take photos and blog but it looks very much like rain and I have a lot to grab and run if it should start....so I am packing it in for a few. Whoops, didn't quite make it, but don't worry no equiptment was damaged as it was just a light rain and I am faster that I look!?!?
And as you can see by what Lukas indicating is.......Peace out!!!!!

Words??

If the saying goes " A picture is worth a thousand words" what is a video worth????

Have I said "I LOVE my new camera?? Hootie let me get very close to her last night. That and the new zoom and the pictures are awesome! Well, I think they are.

I have yet been able to get a picture of all three sets of eyes looking out. But, I shall not give up. Names are still not decided on. Huey, Duey, and Luey have been thrown out there. I was hoping for something a little more unusual!! Oh and Moe, Larry, and Curley.


See, I can be a women of few words!! Don't get too comfortable it won't last!!!!

Family time is the best time!!!!

A few years ago my mom made a great suggestion!! Instead of struggling to figure out something for Mother's Day and Father's Day, the thing they would like the most is family. OK, family and a little help with there really huge lawn. That is how Family work day was born. I should say family work hours....with so many of us it doesn't take all day. Then we all get to re-connect over a awesome buffet. Here is the whole family after a great day!

Finally!!!, Michael made it to work day!!! He has somehow avoided it in the past...something about school??!! I loved watching mom strain her neck trying to talk UP to Michael!! From now on he must get on his knees so as not to injure grandma's neck. The shortie on the right is Michael's girlfriend Annie, it was nice to have her here today.

The work crew gets started!

Travis somehow has snagged the best job!! He is the official trash hauler. Nancy and Annie working REALLY hard. Don't say anything (I did the hostas.)

Jesse rode up from Vicksburg (71miles) and Dave rode from our house to Hastings and then to mom and dad's with Jesse (42miles.) It was really windy and a tough ride. Dave said Jes pulled him most of the way and Jes paid the price. Does he look like he may have a leg cramp!!! Can you say OUCH!!

Lots of scraps to get rid of so, once you get a burn permit.....up it goes!!

Good thing we have a fireman in the family. Of course we were promised that Dan would be wearing the fireman pants with suspenders only, but all we got was the helmet!!! :(

Lukas made his arrival and the first to greet him was Sami. It was just a little sunny for him, but he loved meeting his cousin.

Then it was off to meet Lindsey and Cody.

Cody got a little help from his mommy (Brenda) to hold Lukas. He kept kissing him and saying he loved him....all together now AWWWW!

Lukas got his first visit with great grandpa. Why oh why did I leave the camera outside? That was a long fast walk to make sure I didn't miss this shot.

Sami finally got her chance to hold Lukas.

Sandra and Dan played monkey in the tree. Dad wanted some pruning done and they were the lucky cutting crew.

Brenda was gracious enough to act as the official griller. She really was a happy girl....I must not have caught this shot at the wrong (right) time.

Hunter kicking back with a brew!! (sprite)

Lindsey wanted her picture with her papa and I was happy to oblige. Love the result!

Hunter LOVES his aunt Mary, and there were NO extenuating circumstances involved!!
Great grandma bought some sidewalk chalk for the kids. They had a great time. I have a nice video, but for some reason today Blogger doesn't want to upload, so I will include it later.

Sami had a special request.....Would I take a picture of her posing in her Cinco de Mayo (sic) hat.

We all had a great time. Like I said anytime you can spend with family is good time. Thank you to everyone for all the hard work. Thanks for all the great food. But most of all thank you all for just being you. We are one lucky family!!!! Oh and thanks Janet for picking such a great weather day!!

Just a quick note for those who are owl follower's:

After a fun day with family we came home, set up the owl watching chairs, grabbed a glass of wine and waited for the owls to make an appearance.

We were rewarded for our efforts. Now we definitely need 3 names!!

Thank you all for sticking with me till the end. I will update the owls later (maybe even this evening.) Oh and I LOVE my new camera, although I haven't figured out all the functions yet and missed some shots!

Owlet update #2

I had a great day today. Bear with me while I tell a little story. No, this will not be one of those really long ones. The first year we had owls I had a real basic camera. Once we found out we had babies a new camera with a better zoom was needed. Dave came home from work and I said "load em up." I made Dave get me a new camera and a new pair of binoculars that night. Well, today I decided I needed something with more zoom again. Thank you Dave for my new camera!!! See I told you I would make it short!

Just because I wanted to play with the settings. I actually think Hootie looks quite stunning in Sepia.

A number of years ago we had a tree break off near the drive. One day in the middle of the winter I saw Dave outside with the chainsaw working on the tree stump. I was very impressed when he carved a bear into what remained of that tree. Well tonight as I was going out to owl watch I saw Hootie fly and land on the bear. So cool!!


Just a close up of the owl and the bear!



Two little un-named owlets.......or could there be three???
We have not figured it out yet but if you look carefully in the bottom left of the hole???



They really have to work hard to reach the hole. You can see them bobbing ,which helps them judge distance. It is really funny to watch as they make their way farther into the hole.

Hootie came with a little dinner and there was mayhem in the nest. They were screeching and climbing on one another trying to be the first in line. She no longer has to tear the catch into small piece, they can eat it whole.

Not the lucky one this time. I am thinking since we used 2 boys names last year we should be fair and use girls names this year. We have a few ideas floating around, but if you have any suggestions please let us know. You can comment here, e-mail me, or see me on facebook.

Night for now. Will keep you informed.....I am going to LOVE this new camera!!

Big news!!

Time for another update on the Ward owls. In the past the D#%^ crows have been a nuisance for the owls. For some reason this year they have been relentless in there harassment of the owls and the nest box. Many times throughout the day I see and hear them chasing both of the adults around and attacking the box. Today they were exceptionally pesky. I was out on the deck this afternoon when they were causing a real ruckus, as you can (almost) see in this video.

Dave has been very bothered by this and being the young (read last blog) hunter he is, he decided to put an end to it. RIGHT, good luck with that. It made him feel good to make the effort.

Hootie retreated to the nest and was acting strangely. Normally she will just fly into the box but, this time she stood on the perch and just looked in. She wondered back and forth outside the box. I was curious about what was going on so I walked to the driveway for a better angle. Watch and enjoy!!! If you listen closely you can hear a screeching sound. They do this often, coming and going to the nest, or letting the owlets know they are near. We will also hear that all summer as the owlets call for food or if Hootie and Blowfish want to warn them.



Yep, today was the first sighting of Ward Owlet "09".


And then a few seconds later Ward Owlet #2


If you remember I mentioned in a past blog that the trees have grown and it was hard to get a good clear shot of the nest box. Well once I saw the babies we had to deal with the branch issue. Dave being the brave young (again see previous blog) man he is took his life in his hands and went to cut a few trees down. Both owls sat closely to the nest and kept a very close watch, but let him complete the task.

Another video (picture with buttons) of the goings on today in the box. Sorry about the noise it was Dave's truck coming up the driveway.



After dinner tonight I went out to see what might be going on. I thought this was a nice parting shot.




OK, so this is where the real obsession begins. Now there are some family members that will tell you that I want to spend all my time watching the owlets.....SO, NOT true! It is not that I WANT to watch them, I do it for all of you who can't be here to see them in person!! :) Enjoy!!