Yesterday she roosted in the nest again until sunset, when she hopped up to the perch for an appraisal of the scene below her. She stuck around for about an hour and a half and demonstrated several big, body-twisting wing spreads. Stretching before the hunt?

She left for the night as expected and both owls returned a half hour before sunrise. In the video, she is talking up a storm with her mate who is perched on a branch to the lower left of her about eight feet away. He is the sentry and protector in this pair, I think they scout the area for predators before arriving and before leaving. His head is literally on a swivel, looking all around until satisfied, then she checks the yard below before blasting off in the typical downward, curving trajectory. One of the times they are most vulnerable is at the treehouse and when not able to see behind them; note how his flight path starts to follow her, then turns left to cross her flight path, perhaps to fend off anything that would attack her on departure. Their relatively short wings makes them fast, agile flyers. Cool.