Tweets, Great Horned Owls have nested on our property south of Moscow,
Idaho every year for the past five. Last Nov, a pair started their ritual
hooting and it was the last thing we heard at night and the first thing
when we got up in the morning. Much to our delight, the birds decided to
finally use a nesting platform we put up three years ago, which is visible
from our house. The female? began sitting thereir on Feb 17, and although
she spooked-off briefly when I went out to fill bird feeders, she finally
decided after two days it was OK to sit tight. For two weeks, during rain
and blizzard, she sat on the nest. Both owls continued to hoot nightly,
and the female? would even hoot while sitting on the nest. Two weeks to
the day later, the nest was empty, and that night we only heard one owl
hooting. Presuming the worst (one was hit by a car, electrocuted, etc),
two days later I climbed up and peeked in the nest - no eggs, no shells.
Since the nest was vacant, we've only been hearing one owl at night. Last
night, two owls were again hooting.

Questions. How long after a GHOW begins using a nest are eggs laid? If
something happened to one of them, is it likely a replacement mate could
be found that rapidly? Or, is there some other senario at play here?

Kas Dumroese
Moscow, Idaho