At the interval between 3:55 and 4:02 on the recording, Ms. GWHO spots something at a distance and turns toward something, orienting herself to face 12:00 in view.
At 4:13 – 4:14, carefully observe the lake’s surface just above Ms. GWHO’s left ear. You will see the reflection of a larger predatory bird flying. The reflection travels in the direction of the nest. A few seconds later, Ms. Owl adopts a more direct threat posture.

The entire time between about 4:01 and the 4:15 defensive posture, note that Ms. Owl is a bit more cautious, and fluffs herself somewhat as she observes the approaching large bird. I am guessing that it was a hawk of some type. However, it could have been one of the Bald Headed Eagles that had been visiting the nest.

thanks,

JB

Shirley, we didn’t change anything in the nest, other than to do some measurements and make sure everything around it was well secured and set up properly. Interestingly, the owls’ beaks aren’t designed for lifting and carrying, and they really can’t move things around very easily. Witness last year when a fork shaped stick bothered mom for more than a month until she finally was able to move it away. Eagles, on the other hand, can carry vary large sticks to the nest and seem to know how to get them lodged just right between branches to remain locked in place. We saw a lone eagle once or twice, but don’t know whether it brought anything with it to the nest. A lot of the stuff in the nest is pine straw that winds up being blown into the nest and pine cones that drop into the nest. Mom occasionally shreds a pinecone, but we’re not sure whether she’s making nest material or if she really has no other way to deal with it – we’ve got some videos of mom trying to deal with a pinecone back in October with little success!