Timeline: Part 2

Events in the Ongoing Story of Molly, McGee, & the Owlets

Note: This Timeline is in reverse chronological order, with most recent events at the top.

 

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Drive-by Dinners & Ledging

April 26 - May 7

 

May 6/7. Thur night. Treats: 6. 9:21p McGee, gopher; 11:54p McGee, gopher; 12:11a Molly, rodent; 1:08a Molly, gopher; 2:44a McGee, unknown; 2:50a Molly, rabbit.

• Treats were again either thrust into the box or handed off beak to beak from the doorway.
• One owlet could be seen swallowing a gopher whole!
• In the chat stream, the 'smurf flag' for identifying trolls was raised more than a few times

 

May 5/6. Wed night. Treats: 12. 8:58p Molly, no treat (conjecture is that it was actually sumpin' small); 9:17p McGee, mouse; 9:50p Molly, mouse; 10:41p McGee, gopher; 11:39p Molly, mouse; 12:02a McGee, mouse; 12:12a Molly, rodent; 12:30a McGee, rodent; 12:46a McGee, gopher; 1:59a McGee, rodent; 2:14a Molly, mouse; 2:34a Molly, rodent; 3:09a McGee, mouse.

• Treats were again either thrust into the box or handed off beak to beak from the doorway.
• No incidents out of the ordinary occurred with any of the owlets or McGee and Molly.

 

May 4/5. Tues night. Treats: 12. 8:36p Molly, gopher; 8:53p Molly, mouse; 11:17p McGee, gopher; 11:58p Molly, rodent; 12:08a McGee, mouse; 12:41a McGee, rodent; 12:41a Molly, rodent; 1:32a McGee, rodent; 2:35a Molly, rat; 2:55a McGee, rodent; 2:58a McGee, mouse;  4:41a Molly, gopher.

• Reliable sources now say that reports of deliveries of antelope, landsharks, polar bears, buddies, and carrots were premature and that, with the exception of carrots, the owls will not start eating these until they begin hunting for themselves. Although owls do not eat vegetables, they do eat vegetarians, so they have been consuming carrots all along.

 

May 3/4. Mon night.  Treats: 17 (ties record of May 1/2). 8:13p McGee, rodent; 9:40p McGee, rodent; 9:47p McGee, mouse; 10:25p McGee, mouse; 10:35p McGee, rodent; 10:38p Molly, mouse; 10:48p Molly, rodent; 11:00p McGee, mouse; 11:54p Molly, mouse; 12:28a Molly, mouse; 12:33a Molly, gopher; 12:51a Molly, rodent; 1:17a McGee, gopher; 1:26a Molly, rodent; 1:33a Molly, mouse; 2:17a Molly, rodent; 5:12a Molly, rabbit.

• Another record night for food deliveries! 4 per owlet plus one for the kitty! So to speak.
• The last, a headless bunny, arrived at 5:12 AM. Molly took it right inside the owl box.
• The owlets continue hanging their heads out the door and sometimes even take food from Molly and McGee's beaks without them having to come in!
• No one has stepped over the box threshold, yet.

 

May 2/3: Sun night:Treats: 8. 8:28p McGee, rat; 9:29p Molly, rabbit; 9:42p McGee, mouse; 10:29p Molly, gopher; 1:27a Molly, rat; 1:51a McGee, rabbit; 1:58a McGee, rabbit; 4:08a Molly, rabbit.

• A slow start as far as deliveries go but at about 9 PM, Carlos treated us to an elaborate puppet show including owls, mice, Zoro (the mouse that got away), and a couple of frogs. (Maybe also a fish?)
• Not long after, Molly arrived, delivered a gopher, and sat for an extended time on the perch. Eventually, she looked around, flew away, and within less than a minute, McGee arrived with another treat!
• M&M are continuing to shove and dangle prey instead of passing them to the owlets directly.

 

May1/2: Sat night: Treats: 17 (new record!). 8:09p Molly, mouse; 8:17p McGee, mouse; 8:30p McGee, mouse; 8:43p McGee, gopher; 9:13p Molly, rat tease; 9:29p Molly, the remains of the rat; 9:36p McGee, rabbit; 10:16p Molly, mouse; 10:31p, Molly, mouse; 11:08p McGee, mouse; 11:36p McGee, gopher; 11:39p Molly, mouse; 1:17a McGee, rodent; 1:20a Molly, mouse; 1:47a McGee, gopher; 2:20a Molly, rodent; 3:05a Whoo? mouse; 3:32a Molly, mouse.

• Record night for treats: 17!
• Instead of handing food off deliveries to the owlets, Molly & McGee seemed to be shoving the prey into the box.
• At one point, quoting Merritt: "Molly flew to the box with a treat in her mouth, got their attention, then flew to the platform with it where she proceeded to eat some of it. Then, she took it back to them for the hand off."
• Quoting Merritt: "Carlos switched to the inside cam for a short time and we got to see someone down half a rabbit!"
• At another point, Molly sat on the camera before flying to the box. After she left again, one of the owlets (probably Max) leaned far out of the box ledge, creating a stir of excitement and worry that he might just step right out!

 

Apr 30/May 1: Fri night: Treats: 10. McGee 9:45p, rabbit; Molly 10:19p, mouse; McGee 11:14p mouse; McGee 1:06a, rodent; McGee 2:16a, mouse; Whooo? 2:22a, mouse; McGee 3:47a rabbit; Molly 3:49a, mouse; Molly 4:02a, rat; Whooo? 4:23a, rodent. 

• No food deliveries till 9:45 PDT
• Molly, when she arrived, landed right on the camera platform, knocking into it, prompting festive comments about Molly having attacked the camera. Surprisingly, wild rumors about this incident did not ensue.

 

April 29/30: Thur night: Treats: 14 (the record is 15). McGee: 8:05p, rabbit; 9:07p, rat; 9:59p, mouse; 10:48p, mouse; 10:56p, mouse; 12:32a, rat; 1:25a, mouse; 1:54a, mouse; 3:22a, rodent; 3:36a, mouse; 3:55a, rodent. Molly: 9:50p, rat; 11:04p, rat; 1:03a, visit only; 3:29a, mouse.

 

April 28/29: Wed night: Treats: 10. McGee 7:51p, rat; Whoo? 8:08p, rodent; Molly 9:38p, gopher; Whoo? 10:55p, rabbit; McGee 11:31p, mouse; McGee 11:42p, gopher; Molly 11:58p, rat; McGee 2:38a rabbit; McGee 3:35a rat; McGee 4:18a gopher.

 

April 27/28: Tue night:   Treats: 6 confirmed. McGee 7:56p, mouse; 8:19p, mouse; 10:10p, mouse; 10:43p, mouse. Molly: 10:37p, rodent or rat; 10:54-10:56p, Molly on roof, no treat; 1:57a, The Big Thing (exceptionally large rat). Live stream failed 3:24-6:50a PDT.

A massively full moon and an exciting night for food deliveries:

• On his first drop, McGee paused on the perch, briefly, waving the mouse in front of the owlets. Carlos came on after to suggest that McGee might have been trying to tempt the owlets out of the box -- or beginning that process anyway.
• Later, at about 10:30: Molly arrived with a Big Thing and landed first on the launch pad, then flew up to the perch and sat there for several minutes. Quoting Merritt: "The owlet at the door wanted it real bad. When she wouldn't let him have it, he bit her wing! She kept jerking her head away, and finally just barged into the box to make an inside delivery. She wasn't in there long, but did sit on the perch and hang around the house for a while, before flying off."

• Video of Molly's delivery, "Big Thing": http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6495962

   Molly arrives at 1 hr 46 mins in, so advance to there (use the scroll bar below the video).

 

April 26/27: Mon night: 8 treats. 8:19p, rodent; 8:22p, gopher; 8:31p, mouse; 8:37p, gopher (apparently Molly's only delivery of the night); 9:14p, rodent; 10:35p, mouse; 11:19p, gopher; 2:15a, gopher.  

• Owlets begin afternoon gymnastics
• Special code is invented to identify suspected trolls
• Owlets are sticking their heads of the owl box and taking food from Molly/McGee.

 

April 26

Wing and tail feathers are appearing out of the fuzz and the owlets are beginning to do 'gymnastics' in preparation to learning to fly. At night, they crowd the door, crying and jostling one another for position, leaning out over the ledge. They may not yet quite be fledgling, but they are "ledging"! Molly and McGee are (mostly) tossing in prey and sometimes sitting with the prey just beyond the owlets reach. In the SPO chat stream, poetry and repartee continues.

 

 

Molly Moves Out

April 22 - 26

 

April 25/26: Sun night: 8 treats. 7:57p mouse; 8:12p rodent; 8:38p gopher; 9:12p gopher; 9:38p mouse; 10:11p mouse; 10:58p gopher; 2:26a gopher. 

• Trolls are discovered operating among us
• Molly no longer enters the Owl Box but passes the food off to th eowlets like McGee, but she sticks around on the perch longer.

 

April 24/25: Sat night: 7 treats. McGee 8:14p, rabbit; McGee 10:44p, rodent; McGee 11:44p, mouse; McGee 12:38a, no treat; Molly 1:06-1:16a, mouse; Molly 2:56-3:01a, gopher; McGee 3:21a, gophent; Molly 5:36a mouse.

 

• Carlos upgrades to a new external camera
• Carlos adds a 'landing platform' near the Owl Box where the owlets can fledge (responding perhaps to comments made by Stacy O'Brien about the need for a fledging area and a storm of worry in the UStream chat rooms generated by that)
• Live Interview with Eric Blehm: New York Times bestselling author writing the Molly the Owl e-book.
• Another rush of the moderated chat to ask about including poetry in the book.
• Wild explosion of haiku and limericks and (mon dieu!) the cinquain is introduced!
• Desperate for an archive of our own community, we begin saving and posting PDFs of the Chat Stream.

 

 April 23/24: Fri night: 7 treats: McGee 8:19p rat; Molly visit 9:27p; Molly 11:55p rat (20m); McGee 12:16a gopher; McGee 12:53a mouse; Molly 2:46a rat; McGee 3:57a gopher. Also unconfirmed reports that McGee dropped off a mongoose and a giraffe.  

• Stellar night for haiku!

 

April 22/23: Thu night: Molly/McGee: 9 treats: 8:00p gopher; 9:02 mouse; 9:30p mouse; 11:08p rodent; 11:59 rodent; 12:48a Molly visit; 1:13a sumpin' big!; 1:30a mouse; 2:00a rodent; 3:17a rodent;

• Another fine night for haiku.

 

Apr 21-22 Molly/McGee: 7:52p Molly left nest; Treats: 5: 8:47p Rodent; 9:20p Gopher; 10:41p Mouse; 10:50p Mouse; 11:08p Rodent; Molly checked on kids at 5:50 am.

• Chris from Olympia, WA orchestrates a rush of the UStream moderated chat when Carlos is talking; others join in and their questions finally get Carlos' attention! He clarifies that he has no relationship with Sportsmen's Paradise Online (they simply receive the video stream from UStream). Chris invites him to visit and he says maybe he'll come. Much giddiness and high-fiving ensues.
• Molly did not return to this morning but presumably is roosting nearby.
• The owlets are crowding the front of the box and are difficult to see even in the day camera. 

    

Molly Returns for the Day

April 21st

 

April 20-21 13 treats: 7:57p Mouse; 9:46p Gopher; 9:58p Rodent; 10:10p Rodent; 10:24p Rodent; 10:43p Mouse; 12:06a Mouse; 1:39a Mouse; 1:55a ???; 3:06a Rodent; 4:01a Mouse; 4:43a ???; 5:45a Rabbit. 5:45a Molly at home in owlbox today!! 

• On Wed, April 21, at 5:45 AM, Molly re-entered the owl box and spent the day with the owlets.
• A storm rolled in and rocked the box at night. Rain was sometimes heavy.
• Both McGee and Molly delivered food, proving that owls can and do fly in the rain.
• Meanwhile, with the owlets crowding the front of the box, both interior night cameras were rendered useless and eventually taken offline.

 

Molly Leaves the Nest

April 19-20

 

On April 19, at a little after midnight, Molly made her last food delivery for the night and did not return to the owl box in the morning. She spent the day outside on Mon, presumably roosting nearby in a tree. A Molly Watch was initiated at 6:30 PM Molly-time (PDT). Mon evening, after 20 hours away, Molly returned on at a little after 8 PM with food for the owlets, entered the box, and left again. McGee had arrived and made a delivery just before her. She and McGee took turns making food deliveries all night. She did not return Tues morning but again spent the day away. Mon and Tues April 19-20, Molly did not return to the owl box during the day but continued to bring food to the owlets during the night.

 

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