Spotted Eagle-Owls in Pringle Bay
ThalleonAdmin
05/04/2024
We have been fortunate to have observed the Spotted Eagle-Owls over the past 30 years and have witnessed young fledglings mature to adulthood, all on our doorstep. We have witnessed this privilege every year, except for two years where disturbances of the nest occurred.
The first disturbance was the result of the Cape Grey Mongoose raiding the nest. That is nature and we all accepted the consequences. Unfortunately, the last breeding season (2020) was the second interference and was a result of the baboon monitors traversing close to the nest which resulted in the adults vacating the nest. The adults did not return, and no young were born.
On the brighter side we have observed nests of two or three young every December besides for the two incidents mentioned previously. With time we learnt the different calls of the male and female, as well as the young owlets. We have witnessed the male bringing food to the female while she was incubating the eggs (approximately 32 days).
We have then seen the adults hunt and feed the young with maternal instinct. Prey included birds, young guineafowl, mice and on occasion snakes. The adults are highly successful hunters and the young devoured whatever was brought to them.
From being scraggy vulnerable chicks, they quickly beef up and have the cutest plumage, becoming the most adorable fluff balls imaginable. Then as independence looms, we observe the young owls experimenting with flight. In the beginning from rock to rock but every day venturing further on longer flights to eventually hunting in the fynbos surrounds.
The adults care and devote everything to their young, but the inevitable separation from the young owlets’ looms. From one day to suddenly the next, the adults are not seen or heard. The young owls remain in the area awhile and eventually they move on. Such is the circle of life, and we wait in anticipation, for the same cycle to repeat itself the next summer. What a privilege to be a custodian in this beautiful environment which all of us should protect for the future generations.
This is why we live here…
ThalleonAdmin