Great Horned Owl

Did anyone know that? They are both still here and I hear them calling each other in the evenings and mornings. I have not found the "pellet" that I learned about from the comment section. If you didn't read that "tidbit" of information... they eat their prey whole and then regurgitate the fur and bones in a small hard pellet. Yum.

A few more interesting facts:

wingspan: 50-60 in.

length: 18-25 in.

tail: 6.9-9.9 in.

average weight:

male-46 1/2 oz.

female-61 oz.

They are large, powerful and mostly nocturnal.

They have nicknames of "night tiger" & "flying bobcat".

Their horns are not really horns but feathers.

They have yellow eyes.

They are closely related to the Eagle Owl which is the world's largest owl.

They are the most common owl of North and South America.

The flat disc feathers around the eyes are thought to concentrate sound.

The male is much smaller than the female and has a lower pitched call.

Their diet may include small mammals to rabbits, birds, fish reptiles and amphibians. They are also the only animal that regularly eats skunk.

They usually have a clutch size of 1-3 but can have as many as 6.

I could write a three page report, but I will leave that for someone else.

I'll keep you posted if I stumble across a pellet!

Saturday afternoon update: Sure enough...I did find two pellets under the palm trees. One was broken into pieces and based on the foot I saw, it looks like the meal was a small bird. Fascinating morsel of information... wouldn't you agree?!

on and off and on

We are more than half way through the week and so far reports are a.o.k.

The new job was started, mostly orientation and learning how to be on the hospital computer system. After three days he if now off for the rest of this week and next.

The electrician got the ovens to finally come on and heat up. Just a loose wire. I baked some oatmeal cookies that were enjoyed by all.

Rachel was right, she did spend the whole game on the bench Tuesday night. A last minute eligibility question for her new student status got the coach worried. If she played and was not really eligible they would have had to forfeit the game and possibly a few more as a consequence. He didn't want to take the chance, which we fully understood. Rachel was actually glad so she could watch from the bench and have the rest of the week to learn plays.I received an e mail yesterday that she is in fact good to go and will be off the bench and on the court for the Friday night home game. She is impressed with the coach and the team is being very welcoming to her.

Leah is enjoying school and has good reports of boys on the cute list.

Austin and I held things together while we were on our own at the beginning of the week. He will head back to Golden (and the cold weather) on Sunday.

All in all...we are on top of this Arizona life.

P.S. We have received word that we will be having our first Montrose visitors this weekend. Right ON!