I'm not usually one for anthropomorphizing pets or wildlife but this story is telling itself. I'm pleased to announce the engagement of Mr. Snacks, of the Southwestern Ontario Snacks, to Mrs. Snacks, of around.
Let me tell you how this happened to me.
I, as it happens, am a bit of a night owl; so my affinity for these raptors is genuine. I get it. Rising at the crack of 10 a.m. the other morning, I made my way to the kitchen because that's where the coffee is.
Snacks the Eastern Screech owl that appeared in my owl box last week has added a new step to my morning routine. As I get near the refrigerator to pull out the cream, I drop to the floor in a crouch and look up outside my kitchen window where I can see Snacks roosting in his owl box.
This morning was no different. I dropped, crouched, looked up and froze.
Whatthef*CK!
THERE WAS A DIFFERENT OWL IN THE BOX. A completely different owl. As surprised as I was to see her, she was eye poppingly alarmed to see me as well.
I couldn't see her well enough so I crept out the back door to peek around the corner to see her in real life. As soon as my head rounded the corner she dropped down into the box like a Whac-a-Mole.
This is when I realized Snacks had taken a bride.
What this means is I now have a nesting pair of owls and it could lead to an entire family living in the box for the next couple of months.
So many owls. So few camera lenses and tripods. So few directions to shoot them from. I have two, maybe 3, very small areas in my backyard that have a direct view of the owl box.
The Snacks
Mr. Snacks is a grey morph, a grey version of the screech owl, the most common in my area.
80% of screech owls in Ontario are grey morphs.
Grey morphs are adapted to cold weather.
Lady Snacks is a red morph, a red version of the Eastern Screech Owl.
Rarer in my area because red morphs are less adapted to cold weather.
Less than 20% of screech owls in Ontario are red morphs
Mrs. Snacks spends her day in the bottom of the owl box, only appearing for a few minutes a day. Once in the morning and in the afternoon. I think. That seems to be what's going on if you ask me anything and I'm a certified owl watcher.
Both are Eastern Screech Owls, just different versions. There is also a brown morph, which is brown with red tinges, but less than 3% of owls in Ontario are brown morphs so if I find one of those I would be absolutely justified in buying a better lens with which to photograph it.
As the two are a busy modern couple, a date has yet to be set for official engagement photos, but they have jointly released this candid pre-engagement portrait.
Shot from inside my kitchen through a dirty window.
Snacks spends all day in the opening of the nesting box while his lady friend sits in the bottom of it, presumably getting used to her new life and possibly laying or sitting on eggs.
Obviously, she is also plotting to kill me.
In a month or so there will be a family to feed and more movement from Snacks as he roams the neighbourhood looking for meals and mayhem.
Mr. Snacks' given name, as you may know, is Ohmygod. It was given to him the first moment I saw him as it is what I said out loud.
I believe you have all deduced what Mrs. Snacks's given name is.
This is my view of Cooper’s hawks in the front yard, through a dirty bedroom window.
Oh! That's amazing! ~ karen!
Engagement photo?? BEST photo EVER!!!!! they're ADORABLE! Can't wait to see their babies!!
Here's hoping they reproduce and that reproduction pops its head out of the hole. And here's hoping I have a camera facing it at the time. ~ karen!
Fantastic! And I love all the photos, esp the pre-engagement :)
They're MUCH more discrete these past few days so I'm lucky there's even a pre-engagement photo! I don't know when they'll be together again for an official portrait. ~ karen!
Congratulations! You are going to be an owl grandma!!
Fingers crossed! ~ karen!
She looks so pissed off! I love owls, and look forward to seeing more of yours.
Hello! I’m a big fan of you and your owls. Here is a glass mosaic I made recently to celebrate and I thought you’d like to see it…
Kathy! I absolutely love that. ~ karen!
Kathy? That's BEAUTIFUL! Did you use rice & grains for it?
No, it’s tiny pieces of glass that I’d cut, nipped, shaped and ground to shape to hopefully look like feathers!
This is fantastic news!!! The pre-engagement photo is glorious. So happy for you - I look forward to baby Snacks pictures. Although I realize how tough that will be with that beautiful warrior mama on guard.
If I am so lucky as to have them hatch and raise owlets, they won't make an appearance for quite some time. It will be an excruciating wait. ~ karen!
Gorgeous photos.
Wonderful!
Thank you.
A true lady! Dainty and beautiful.
That is until you get too close to her and the future fam and then her true inner “WTF” comes out! lol
Be careful Karen…you may be the wack a mole! 😂🦉🦉🦉
Mr. Snacks must have some masculine ways to win over such a beautiful lady. She is so beautiful. I hope you get some pictures of the little ones when they make their appearance. We had a pair of white owls a few years ago. They nested in the top of a Mexican fan palm by our house. You are so blessed.
OH! How wonderful! Thank you for the pics!
BUT
I just now realized what you had named her...
PLEASE Nooooooo!
She is so pretty- don't call her that. Pretty please?
That's her name. It's what I said when we saw each other. There's no going back now. Don't worry, unless she does something horrifying, she'll continue to be referred to as Mrs. Snacks. Although the odd time I do call her foxy. ` karen!
You are so lucky!! We have owls in the trees near my house but we only hear them. The one and only time I ever saw one was in the middle of the road squatting on an opossum it was in the process of making not alive. The owl did not appreciate me coming upon it with headlights and I was too busy screaming to try and identify it.
Ohmygosh … this is soooo exciting❣️
Well owl be darned! I was not expecting this announcement! So darned cool, Karen!
So very cool. We had barn owls next in our woods a few years back. They were quite visible and a riot to watch. I look forward to many more shots of the developing family.
This might be the most exciting thing I've seen so far this year. I am going to have my husband make a owl box.
I love barn owls. They're BIG. ~ karen!
That is so freaking cool!!!!
My owl is hooting all night while I have flashing lights and TV in the window noise to chase him away.
No family in my woods please!!, I'm trying to sleep and then the dogs start barking(they are in the house) and we are all up. UGH!
You're lucky, I have the same relationship with an animal around my house but it's a skunk. ~ karen!
how is philip doing with this new neighbor? will he and the chickens be alright? exciting time
Philip hasn't noticed them in the tree I don't think but he runs around the base of the tree sniffing. Other than that nobody seems to have a real issue with anyone else. Yet. ~ karen!
This is so interesting. Is there a registry or bird organization you could report your nesting pair too I wonder?
Yes there is. I use the app Ebird which is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Fabulous website and also another app called Merlin which identifies birds by sound or photo. They are available world wide and I would not be without them! Hazel in BC
I'm not sure if there is in Canada. ~ karen!
Mrs. Snacks sure is giving you stink eye!