A bit of a surprise on Saturday night.
During the day the adult owls perched in adjoining trees about 4 metres apart,
just staring at each other.
We went back just on dark to see if Junior would re-join them but no Junior. However we
thouht we might wait and watch the adults fly out. A nearly full moon was rising behind.
Just after 6:00pm Mum flew to an exposed branch on a nearby eucalypt. Soon Dad followed
and landed one metre away. He just stared at her for about 10 minutes ...she mostly looked
elsewhere but sometimes glanced at him.
Suddenly, without any warning or hint of what was to come, he flew onto her back, grasped her
right leg with his left foot, bit her on the back of the neck and mated with her. Immediately afterwards
he flew off.
Total time taken to mate......3 seconds(!)
Mum simply let out a shrill squeal (probably from the biting)
She sat there in what seemed like complete surprise for 5 minutes, then flew off after him.
Both yesterday and today they are roosting close to each other in the mangroves.
Cheers,
Antonia
Dramatic shots, choosypix.
No sense in hanging about providing a target for predators, I suppose.
Well.... I see you found Dad then
and so did she !!! Great timing with these shots Antonia ..... no wonder he took off fast though... he may have felt a bit under pressure ha ha with an audience
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Adrian, the Powerful Owls are the top of the food chain in the nocturnal world. Not much fazes them.
I remember when you e-mailed me these Antonia. So well captured. We're starting to see more and more of these types of images. Well done!
Thanks for your comments birdie, woko and canonguy.
Exactly the same thing happened last night...still 3 seconds(!)
There was quite a bit of foliage between us and them, so the photos are pretty poor.
However, we are getting a bit of a photo collection of Powerful Owls in flight.
(They sometimes fly to a new roost when the sun rises enough to shine onto them)
I will post them a bit later this week, if time permits.
Cheers,
Antonia
Great shots Choosypix, Mrs Owl looks a tad grumpy about the whole thing
Difficult shots to catch and great detail.
Being on the top of the food chain doesn't mean you can't be shy about those private moments Canonguy ..... especially when they only last 3 secs!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I guess you're right, Canonguy, but I still wonder if the short copulation has evolved to make birds less vulnerable while mating. (Written from a human perspective, of course).
Just keep them coming Antonia.... I really love to see them . Must be unreal to be able to observe behaviours over a period of time like that. Canonguy I guess you know that feeling well too
Sunshine Coast Queensland