Waste facility's resident owl family continues to grow, and you can watch it live.

The family of barn owls at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District facility continues to grow. Luna and Sol—named through a Facebook contest held by the MRWMD—made their debut to the public through a Youtube feed in 2019. Mamma Luna has laid three more eggs this year which can be seen on the live feed. 

Luna and Sol welcomed nine owlets into the world last year as the public watched online throughout March and April.

If you love owls, animals or the circle of life and you’re bummed you missed it, don’t worry. It’s likely that Luna will lay more eggs in the coming days and in a little over four weeks you can watch the owlets hatch. 

The MRWMD owls' journey to celebrity started in 2017 when they were discovered behind a sign during construction of a new recycling plant on the property. After bringing in local wildlife experts and hatching a plan to relocate the owls, a nesting box was created and installed outside for the pair and their first batch of owlets. 

Shortly after, the Salinas High School Green Academy offered to build and donate 12 more owl boxes. Installed in February 2018, the additional boxes encourage other barn owls on the property to nest outdoors rather than inside the recycling building. 

Since then the barn owls have nested in the available boxes and provide a natural form of pest management, hunting rodents that come out at night when the plant is shut down and quiet. 

“It’s the perfect match between wildlife and the facility,” said Duane Titus, owner of Humane Wildlife Control, in a video about the owls posted by the MRWMD on February 9, 2019.