To catch you up to speed: at the end of December, an owl appeared in the palm tree in our backyard. We named it Coconut. I started taking pictures of it every day and drawing it. After a freak snow day here in Texas, we decided to have a house built for it. On Valentine’s Day, we spotted Coconut in the house, and then the ice storm hit, ruining Coconut’s old spot in the palm tree. On February 19, we confirmed that there were two owls in the box, and probably two owls we’d been seeing all along.
Two Coconuts.
At the end of February, I bought a cheap spotting scope with a cell phone attachment and started taking timelapse videos of them:
? #coconuttheowl pic.twitter.com/7t0USXvDog
— Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) March 7, 2021
The trouble is, I still can’t tell them apart unless they’re next to each other. (Males are slightly smaller than the females.) Eastern screeches are able to sort of morph their bodies to blend in with tree branches, so one minute they might be puffed up and happy, sleeping in the sun (as Coconut used to be in the palm) and the next minute they’ll look all skinny and mean, like they want to murder you. (They are, after all, killers.)
TWO OWL confirmation: one in the box, one in the tree! ? ? #coconuttheowl pic.twitter.com/63VocOFbQO
— Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) March 7, 2021
We had a scare a few days ago, when the box was empty and we couldn’t find the owls anywhere, and there was a goddamned SQUIRREL in the box. I was distraught, until the next day, when we spotted them both up in the tree very close together, preening and cleaning themselves, which suggested to me that they were about to mate. Then, yesterday, Coconut was back in the box. Now, this morning, they’re both in the tree.
So I don’t know what the hell is going on with these owls. According to everything I’ve read, this should be the time of year that they mate and lay eggs. The female should roost in the box, leaving around dusk and dawn to defecate (yes! owls poop! it’s a good way to spot them) and hunt, and stay on the eggs the rest of the day. The male should hang out nearby in a tree to keep an eye on things and fly in food.
Good news, everyone: Coconut and pal have been located! They’re up in a tree on the other side of my house from the box ? ? pic.twitter.com/93JtHjBgpT
— Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) March 15, 2021
But that’s the wonderful thing about observing animals, human animals, too: there’s the way they’re supposed to behave, and there’s what’s in front of your eyes.
Regardless, they’ve been a bright spot in a winter that was downright grim. If you’d like to see more photos and videos, check out the #coconuttheowl tag on Twitter and Instagram.
