Pot plant owl / Allan and Tracy Eccles
Pot Plant Owl is an amazing visual and personal record of the authors (Tracy and Allan Eccles) sharing their living space with a pair of wild Spotted Eagle Owls, as they successfully raised their chicks and took them to adulthood. In the sprawling metropolis of Johannesburg, South Africa a female Spotted Eagle Owl chose to nest in a pot plant on a balcony – the Eccles' balcony. For many years, Allan worked as a pilot/guide in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. He specialised in Birding Tours, and was fortunate to have accompanied some of Africa’s leading ornithologists, including the late Ken Newman. Allan could scarcely believe his luck when the female Spotted Eagle Owl chose his home to nest and raise her chicks. Allan and Tracy set up a ‘hide’ to record the events, keeping contact with them to a minimum. The initial intention was not to publish a book, but to keep a diary of the events, as they unfolded. However, family and friends suggested that the story should find its way into a book - and so began the story of Pot Plant Owl