SANParks.org Forums

I am really looking forward to our resident Spotted Eagle owls that have been nesting (for 15 years) in this one pine tree located in the George Botanical Gardens. They should start nesting late July/early August and hope to capture the on an infra-red based webcam installed in the tree. At the moment we have Egyptian Geese visiting the nest by day and I received an email alert of a nighttime visitor at 1am, which I hope was the owls.

Stephan Hattingh from NMMU university rescued 2 of the chicks over the last few years as one had its wing clipped off on the railway track.
Here are the Egyptian Geese by day and and early evening visiting the nest


Infra-red image waiting for the Spotted Eagle Owls rather

Was at Sable Hide In late December 2008. We had set an alarm for the ealy hours of the morning to try and spot something.. All we could hear were the overly-enthusiastic calls of some owls.. Upon further inspection we found no less than four Spotted Eagle-owls perched on the 'railing' of the walkway. They didnt mind being shone at at all and were very photo friendly, if only I could find the photos...

Thanks for sharing kilos

Pleasure, finally a few brief visits of the Spotted Eagle Owl, not permanently in the nest yet. Any moment know for them to nest,possibly early Aug

Taken early morning at Kgalagadi.

Wow Fantastic winking shot - one of the best I have seen
The Spotted Eagle Owl has just started nesting at 06h57
here in George Botanical Gardens
Setup the webcam 2 months anticipation that they will nest again.
Webcam link of the Spotted Eagle Owl(image refreshes every 30 sec)

Great photo, Siobain.

Thanks Lizet and kilos

Taken 12 Aug 2009 at 06h07 this morning
She has laid her 2nd egg since when she started nesting on Friday

Took this image of the Female on the Nest.
Thats why if you look at the Spotted Eagle Owl webcam
its difficult to spot her in the nest

Uploaded 1024x768 image.Just waiting for the owlets to be born approx 2-8 Sep,as the 1st egg was laid on the 7 Aug and their are 3 eggs
http://bit.ly/4k8rtr

Website: http://midafricam.co.za

We had Spotted Eagle owls nest on our balcony adjacent to our bedroom last Aug.

We set up a 'hide' in the bedroom, suffered permanently closed curtains and overgrown garden for almost 3 months, and watched the owl family.

We live in a suburb in Jo'burg.

The female, Pot Plant Owl, as we called her, laid her first egg on tthe 21st of Aug last year. She hasn't laid yet although she's been back many times to the balcony pot plant, and made her scraping. I hope it's normal to have this delay??

Wow that is a great viewing spot, please post some pics
I wonder if the cold weather in Joburg has effected the laying of the eggs.
So far still waiting for the little ones to start hatching I estimate
approx 2-10 Sep, as I am no expert, but they say 27 days from eggs
being laid it should start hatching, thats when then fun starts for the
parents to feed the young ones.

If you look at my primitive diary on the below link, they visit the nest alot before they start nesting
http://bit.ly/W4QFd

Thanks Kilos. I had a look at your diary.

It seems to me that your pair visited the nest two weeks prior but for very short periods of time (a minute or two). Then the week before, they stayed a little longer.

I think we are anxious because our pair are heard many nights a week while we sleep. They nested about 4 metres from our bed, so it's hard not to stir when you hear them land on the nest / balcony.

Last week the pair we around our area lot - within sight most of the evening. This week, we've only seen one. For Monday and Tuesday this week, we woke up to scratching in the nest in the early hours of the morning. Wed and last night we never saw or heard the owls at all.

We were out early evening so perhaps they came at first nightfall. But I couldn't sleep from 4am and lay awake listening for them, but heard nothing.

From the many years your pair have nested in the same tree, is it normal to go a couple of days without coming back (or at least not that we saw or heard)?

Monday is Day 32 of the incurbation period, so we should see a little
one shortly.
Sorry Tracye this is my first year of observation, I saw the fellows
last year when my son told me to come and photograph them
in mid September, I am uploading every motion detection
image when she moves in the nest so that I can see approx
within 5 min when the owlet is hatching.

Regards from Zambia - just arrived for the week.

Sitting in the nest