Female Powerful Owl in suburban Brisbane this morning. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

It still surprises me how Powerful Owls can dilate their pupils independently. I suppose its very useful if you spend a lot of time in dappled light.

At dusk today I found this Powerful Owl pair quite quickly. I couldn't see the Owlet they had raised anywhere, so I began to wonder if it had left to find its own territory. It's that time of year. Well after sunset I found the Owlet only 30m from the nest hollow it had hatched in many months ago.

I went back at dusk to get more information about the new Powerful Owl. At 6.58pm it flew then called for 4 minutes from ~200m away (by my car #carparkbirding), the call confirming it's male. No female sighted or heard, but she may have been tucked away somewhere. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A new Powerful Owl! @lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social and I had been to this site several times, and had found evidence ... feathers, scat, a pellet. But finally it revealed itself. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

The Powerful Owls were being elusive this morning, so some more of the Tawny Frogmouth chick #NotAnOwl #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Difficult to know exactly what the Tawny Frogmouth chick was up to here.

The parents weren't really interested, but the baby Tawny Frogmouth had to look at everything that went past.

The Tawny Frogmouth family were in their crazy roost over a busy path again today. If they moved about 10m, they'd have a bit of peace and quiet in a more secluded tree, but they choose not to. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A new Powerful Owl site found this morning in a Brisbane conservation area. That's the 3rd new site @lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social & I have found and seen POwls at this year, and another with scat/pellets/POwl feathers, but no POwl seen yet. So a very good start to the year. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owl pair sleeping at dusk in a Brisbane conservation park yesterday. After sunset they were allopreening ("kissing"). There was a sign at the entrance saying there would be burn offs, so the Powerful Owl Project will get in touch today to say the POwls are there & where the nest hollow is.

Tawny Frogmouth family roosting over a busy path in Brisbane this morning. #NotAnOwl #brisbane #birds #wildoz

From William T. Cooper, Peregrines. Every drawing is practice for the next.

Male Powerful Owl waking up at dusk yesterday. After sunset he flew around calling for almost an hour, possibly establishing territory. The POwls that still have an Owlet in their territory don't seem to be calling now, those without an Owlet do, but we need more data. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A Koala in a small cluster of trees that also contained 2 Powerful Owls this morning! The POwls were about 12m away on either side of it. It's their regular non-breeding season roost, so you'd think the Koala would know better. But it was big enough that it should be fine. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Female Powerful Owl in a suburban Brisbane park this morning. Her partner wasn't apparent, but he'll have been tucked away somewhere. Out of breeding season they usually change their roosts each day, though they have regular favourites. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

From a William T. Cooper Blue-faced Honeyeater sketch. Every drawing is practice for the next.

From a William T. Cooper sketch, ink and aquarelle pencil. Yellow-billed Kingfisher. Every drawing is practice for the next.

Female Powerful Owl this morning in suburban Brisbane. Unusually, she was in a roost not often used, but only about 80m from a nest hollow. During breeding season the female POwls will often stakeout a hollow before entering, though that's not usually until April. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A new Powerful Owl for the Powerful Owl Project. Having walked 2km along a creek and decided this location was a washout, and only continuing along the creek to try and find a crossing to get out of there, suddenly there was some scat with a Powerful Owl above it. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owl pair in a suburban Brisbane park this morning, female left. This is the pair that showed interest in a nest hollow a couple of weeks ago, with the male "purring" from the hollow as the female looked on. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

No Powerful Owls found this evening at a new site, but a trifecta of evidence that they are around ... a feather, scat, and a pellet (data not shown). Also, a very promising looking tree hollow. Definitely one to follow up on.

Powerful Owlet at dusk yesterday in a Brisbane Park. At dusk it flew across the park to some nearby houses where it attempted to take a Brushtail Possum walking along a telephone wire. It missed, but the Possum and the Owl sat on the wire together for some 5 minutes. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Learning from the sketches of William T. Cooper. Shining Flycatcher and Red-tailed Black Cockatoo foot. Every drawing is practice for the next.

Male Powerful Owl in a Brisbane park this morning. Surprisingly, his partner was in a crazy roost 100m away about 8m above a busy path. I suspect she will have moved to join him in his much quieter location by the end of the day. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owlet at dusk. Interestingly, its parents didn't seem to be around (in sight or calling), and it didn't trill at all when it woke up and flew around after sunset. I wonder if its possible for an Owlet to independent of its parents while still being in their territory. #brisbane #wildoz

A new Powerful Owl! It was in the Samford Valley, in which despite being "The Home of the Powerful Owl" there are surprisingly few Powerful Owls known to the Powerful Owl Project. If you happen to know some, be sure and let me or the POwl Project know. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Female Powerful Owl in a Brisbane conservation area* this morning. * Incidentally, an area that the government seems very interested in developing into a "major tourist attraction" in time for the 2032 Olympic Games. Something nobody wants except developers, as far as I can tell. #brisbane #wildoz

Bloody hell! Just after sunset we saw a male Powerful Owl in a nest hollow, purring inside for several minutes, as the female looked on calling 20m away! Usually POwl don't investigate hollows until late March/April, so this is massively early. [photo: same male POwl investigating the hollow 5/5/22]

Powerful Owlet #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owlet on New Year's Day in a suburban Brisbane park. Another month or two and it will be off to find its own territory. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

The sibling of the Powerful Owlet, which was 3m along the branch, had an unusual left eye. Apart from the colour, the eye looked fine and functional. We don't usually name Owlets, but we'll be thinking "Bowie". #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owlet in a Brisbane conservation park. I was lucky that it was softly trilling every now and then, or else I might not have found it. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owlet roosting with a parent in a Brisbane park. This was the one found last week, & I wanted to check if it had a sibling. But at dusk there wasn't trilling except from this one, so it looks like a singleton. It was fun watching it playing and flying after sunset. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owl in suburban Brisbane this morning. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Brilliant! After 1.5 hours of stamping around in the Brisbane sauna today, deciding there were no owls, trying to take a short cut back to the car ... that looks like a great nest hollow ... that tree looks nice for roosting ... that looks like scat! ... (looks up) f**k me there's a Powerful Owlet!

A very calm roo that was having its dinner as I was looking for owls.

Owl Detecting is not for the fainthearted.

Since there was a question about how we find Powerful Owls, here's something @lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social and I wrote on Owl Detecting for Wildlife Australia magazine a couple of years ago. #wildoz

Two young Boobook Owlets seen while looking for Powerful Owls yesterday. They were low in a tree right next to a path next to a row of houses, a crazy location given there was a lovely creek with lots of secluded trees right behind them. Owlets often make poor roost choices. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

There is still time to register for the Open Ecoacoustics & Powerful Owl projects webinar in a bit over an hour. @lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social and I will be in the chat channel to answer all your Powerful Owl and project questions. www.eventbrite.com.au/e/open-ecoac...

Female(?) Powerful Owl in a Brisbane conservation area this morning. This was a new and unexpected roost for the POwl, so it was good to get new information on this pair that we know quite well. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A beautiful documentary on tracking down and monitoring a family of Masked Owls in SW Western Australian that @cnzdenek.bsky.social drew my attention to. I recognise so much in it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=maeB...

Male Powerful Owl in suburban Brisbane this morning. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Some quick Powerful Owl sketch experiments. Every drawing is practice for the next.

Powerful Owlet at dusk. A couple of months ago, a poorly adult POwl was found about 2-3 km away, & there was concern it might be this one's parent. Fortunately, last night one adult was about 30m away, another about 350m away, & this ones sibling was trilling and flying around with it after sunset.

At bird banding there was a Boobook near our measuring table. It was almost aggressive in how uninterested in us it was. It had a floofy Owlet with it so perhaps it had been rushing around all night to feed it and was very tired. Getting up at 3am I could empathise, though the dawn light was lovely.

We think this Powerful Owlet may be female as its face mask feathers extend beyond the edge of its face, and there was a paper a few years back that said female juveniles could be distinguished from males this way.

Powerful Owlet in a Brisbane park this morning. This is either the Owlet or its sibling that I rescued off the road when it 1st came out of the hollow in August. It looks to be well, and its chevon patterning has now fully grown in, though it still has floof around its face. #brisbane #birds #wildoz