The last two mornings at 2am I was jolted awake by the sound of an alarm, or at least I thought it was an alarm until all remnants of sleep fell away.  I couldn't identify the sound, but quickly realized that it wasn't a mechanical noise, but rather the vocals of our resident wildlife.  I couldn't identify the sound, so on Sunday I did a little research and learned that this nocturnal visitors was a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

This owl may be small in size, but its call is loud and strong sounding like a series of whistled toots.  The Northern Saw-whet Owl can be found roosting during the winter in small, dense conifer trees. Its defense upon discovery is to sit still and not fly, giving the perception that they are "tame."

Around 9:30pm Sunday tonight, I walked outside with Pepper and was delighted to hear that the owl had returned!  It didn't sound very far away so I grabbed a flashlight and set out to see if I could find our visitor--now that I knew what I was looking for!  Owls are fascinating creatures, partially because they are so elusive and the fact that they are out at night gives them almost a mythical quality.  Well, it didn't take too long because the Saw-whet sounded like it was just steps away from the Lodge, near the playground.  I knew I was on the right path as the calling was just overhead so I on the light and as I passed through the second pine tree, there it was, about 25' feet up the tree and literally no bigger than my hand.  I kept the direct light off of the owl, and it stayed perched and and continued its calling.  After observing the owl for a little while longer, I turned off my light and headed back to the Lodge.  As I departed, so did the Saw-whet as I could hear its wings just over head.

The Northern Saw-whet owl calls out during the breeding season only (usually between March and May) and they are mostly silent the rest of the time. The primary courtship call is a monotonous, whistled "hoop" about 1.5 notes per second.  Tonight, the calls continued on through the 3am hour.  As fascinating as the owl is, a part of me does hope that it finds a mate soon or I'll have to sleep with the windows closed!

It seems that I'm always discovering something new and that's the beauty of being here at the Lodge.

Today, I learned that the main prey of the Northern Saw-whet Owl are mice, especially deer mice.   Adult mice usually are eaten in pieces in two different meals because these owls are so small.  The female Northern Saw-whet Owl does the incubation and brooding. The male brings all her food while she is incubating. She leaves the eggs for only one or two short trips each night, to defecate and cough up a pellet. While the female Saw-whet broods her nestlings, she keeps the nest cavity very clean.  When the young are about 18 days old, she starts spending the night in another hole, and then the dirt starts to accumulate. When the young owls leave the nest after another ten to fourteen days, the nest cavity has a thick layer of feces, pellets, and rotting prey parts.