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Welcome to the 2012 Season!

Also Known As - Pot Plant Owl


A spotted eagle owl (known as Pot Plant Owl) is a shining example of how animals and birds have had to adapt to man's urbanization and destruction of their natural habitat. With trees and other natural flora being cut down to accommodate the growth of the sprawling metropolis of Johannesburg, Pot Plant Owl was forced to leave its natural nesting habitat and find sanctuary in a pot plant on the balcony of a suburban home.
In 2010 she laid 3 eggs in the pot plant, all of which hatched and the chicks successfully fledged.
In season 2011 PPO Mom once again laid 3 eggs, but only two hatched and both chicks successfully fledged. Africam feels this is an important story to tell, so we are putting these owls and their unorthodox nest LIVE on the internet for all to see, 24/7 with night vision and sound.


PPO Mom sitting on eggs -2011 season.

PPO Facts

I am a wild female Spotted Eagle Owl, living with my mate in densely populated Johannesburg, South Africa. Because of my chosen nesting site, a pot (potted) plant nest, I have been named 'Pot Plant Owl'. My mate has been named 'Pappa'.
Apart from Pappa and I, there are no adult Spotted Eagle Owls in the immediate territory, so there is no pressure on us to 'move on'. By calling through the night, we let all the other owls know that this territory is taken. We'll stay together now
My nesting season is August - December.
( Information from the Pot Plant Owl Blog)

2012 Season

Eggs Laid:

Egg #1- September 3, 2012
Egg #2- September 5, 2012

Eggs Hatched: The eggs did not hatch and were removed from the nest several weeks after the due date.

PPO Mom surprised everyone and laid two more eggs. Estimated dates laid were:

Egg#1- November 7, 2012
Egg#2- November 9, 2012

Eggs Hatched: Not available. Chicks were first seen on December 8th by Tracy.

Chick #2 died on Christmas Day (December 25, 2012). Tracy removed the chick the following day and said it had a wound most likely from an accident possibly during feeding. She buried the chick in her fenced in bird garden.

Naming: A contest through Africam named our chick Azizi the beginning of the New Year, Azizi meaning "Precious One"!

Fledged:
Azizi made her "Maiden Fledge" on January 20, 2013 in the wee hours of the morning.


PPO Blog: http://potplantowl.blogspot.com/

Cam Links:
Africam Link: http://www.africam.com/wildlife/potted_plant_owl_webcam
Ustream Link: http://www.ustream.tv/africampottedplantowl
Hancock Link: index.php?topic=Africam-Owl1

2011 Thread: forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=265466



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Reserved

Reserved

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A post from Tracy's blog:

Monday, July 30, 2012
30 July and we have frequent visitors
Pappa is not taking 'no' for an answer. For the past couple of weeks, we've been watching Pappa do everything in his power to entice Pot Plant Owl to the balcony, and the nest. In the twilight hours, Pappa flies to the balcony and begins. First he hoots. And hoots. And hoots... If this doesn't illicit a response from PPO, Pappa jumps into the pot plant, and shuffles his talons and scratches the soil, all the while looking around for Pot Plant Owl. If this doesn't bring PPO to the nest, Pappa gets out of the nest and flies to the rooftop nearby,and hoots again - this time louder and more 'forcefully' - as if to say 'Okay now. I'm calling you here. Come on!' Pot Plant Owl, in the meantime, lazily watches the scene unfolding from her hunting pole. She seems to enjoy Pappa's pre-mating display (although she's not letting him know that). When Pappa eventually flies off hunting, we've spotted PPO make a quick fly-over the nest as if making sure that everything is still there, and (almost) as she left it months ago. We've watched this display for four years now. It never ceases to amaze me how routine owls can be. And no matter how much Pappa entices, or we encourage, or other people 'will' the breeding season to start - the breeding season will begin exactly on time - when Nature (and PPO) intend it to.

Here is hoping that the new dog will not deter the owls. Love how he is wooing PPO. Thanks for sharing the note JEan.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Hi Donna.... Finally a couple more posts by Tracy!

07 August and it's snowing
We have snow. While it may not be the thick white blanket typical of northern hemisphere winters, it is certainly enough to say that it is well-and-truly snowing in Johannesburg. Pot Plant Owl and Pappa are nowhere to be seen. I suspect that the shock of having a truly cold spell just as they begin to prepare for another breeding season has forced them to hide from the biting wind and snowflakes. Snow! Who would have thought!

Sunday, August 12, 2012
11 August and the balcony is a mess
It's the norm now to wake up in the morning to find that more soil has scattered all over our balcony floor - all thanks to Pappa and PPO getting ready to nest. We sweep and clean up after them each morning, and ask them nicely not to make a mess on their next visit. Wishful thinking!

Hi Jean and Donna




Calling on all our talented Screen Cappers


Do you have a favorite screen capture of our very own Ma & Pa's

Ma & Pa Delta2
Ma & Pa Lafarge
Ma & Pa White Rock



If you do.... and would like to share it with us please send it to my email debs571@hotmail.com no later than noon Sunday - August 26, 2012

Pick your best screen capture as my email only has so much room.

When submitting your screen capture please include the following information:

Your screen name and contact information
In the subject line of your email state that its for the "HWF Screen Capture Contest" so that your email does not go into the junk or spam folder
When your capture was taken and at what Hancock Wildlife Nest (although we will likely be able to tell please include this information)
Images must be JPEG saved and no larger than 500 pixels
The screen capture must be "raw" without any enhancements; text or animations
The nest must be part of the capture

We would also like some screen captures that include some of our famous HWF kids or bobbleheads with or without the parents in the screen capture
and preferably taken when the chicks were just a few days old.

This Screen Capture Contest is for screen captures only no professional pictures this time around.

Although we would love to promote everyone's favorite screen capture ... as they are all "keepers" we can only select a few from this contest, which will then be used in an upcoming promotion so good luck to you all.

We will keep all screen captures on file for future HWF promotions so you never know when your favorite capture may be used in the future.

Thanks for participating and we look forward to seeing your beautiful screen captures!

A new post by Tracy:

Pot Plant Owl
18 hours ago.

Pappa is coming to the nest earlier and earlier now. It isn't even dusk yet and we know he's around from the cacophony of noise from the other garden birds. They don't like the owls nesting so close to their own nests.