The wait begins

Correspondent Amy Ries alerted me that the Great Horned Owls nesting at the Valmont Power Plant in Boulder are proud parents of an egg as of last night. Checking the archived daily pix, we can see that the female was present nearly all night. Her few brief stretch breaks give us glimpses at the nest scrape in the corner of the box- it appears as though the egg was laid sometime around 10 pm. By 10:30 the egg is there, and at about 2:30 am dad came by to check on things- maybe he brought a mouse or vole, too. This morning, the female is basking in the morning sunlight, beginning the wait of about a month (30-37 days per Birds of North America online) until we see chicks. Still, the box is worth watching, as the male will bring her prey over the intervening time.