Owl news December- January

I have one good shot of Frankie, taken in early December. Since then, it looks like Chester and Greta have returned to our yard and I haven't seen Frankie since after Christmas. Starting in late December, an owl (likely Chester) started calling everyday around 4pm and into the night. Poor guy- he was feeling lonely! About a week ago, he started getting responses and they both broke into excited calls including the monkey call- link here- (starts with the standard 8 note call, then moves into the excited calls with the so-called monkey calls, then whining).  Link thanks to Birdjam.

 
http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=47

 Today, I got an OK photo of who I think is Greta, she was sleeping quite soundly high up in the canopy and didn't really pay attention to me. I am currently assuming that Chester and Greta have returned, as time goes on, and I see them more, I'll be able to determine if it is indeed our intrepid pair. They will likely lay their eggs beginning March, maybe earlier- at which point I will see more of the male as the female stays on the nest and he does the hunting.

Now, every afternoon, they talk back and forth way into the night. The calls start with the standard and then change to variations of the monkey call- things are heating up! On the audio- at the beginning you can hear a whippoorwill in the background.
 This is the larger female- probably Greta.

 This is my last photograph of Frankie, still cute and fluffy!