Whoops!

I’m a loud and angry feminist, and I owe an owl an apology.

I promise not to bring politics to my owl site! I’m going somewhere with this, so hang tight. I’m a feminist, and one of the things I know to be true about society is that patriarchal structures hurt men as well as women. When we form expectations about male behavior it’s just as confining and oppressive as when we form expectations about female behavior.

I mention this because I’m now pretty sure yesterday’s nest-visitor was Ecks.

I asked the lovely person who runs Barred Owls of Midtown Tulsa how she was so sure it was her male (Owlbert) hanging out in the nest and not her female (Sofie). She explained that they have very different markings between their eyes and suggested that I review my photos with that in mind.

And… um, yeah.

Here we have some images I’m mostly sure are Ecks (click to embiggen):

And here are some I’m definitely sure are Henrietta: 

And here are some grabs from yesterday’s footage:

See? Ecks. And I made all these judgments based on my prejudices about owl gender roles. I’m deeply sorry, Ecks. (Please don’t hurt me!)

Also, this totally explains why the owl in question freaked out and flew away when I opened the door. Because of course he did.