Regular viewers to the Audubon Starr Ranch Barn Owl webcam are watching with anticipation as a female barn owl sits on her five eggs, the first of which should hatch any day now. [UPDATE: It's hatched!]

You can’t blame them for being excited. They’ve waited a long time for this.

While the webcam stood for several years as a popular online celebration of owls and Southern California nature, the nest has gone empty for the past two years. Occasionally, viewers have had the opportunity to watch Barn Owls roosting in the tree cavity, but none have established a nest.

While he doesn’t have concrete scientific evidence to support his opinion, Starr Ranch Sanctuary Manager Pete DeSimone is pretty sure about the reason: it’s the drought.

“It’s all part of how the ecology of the area has responded to the drought,” says DeSimone, noting that he’s observed a steep decline in the small rodents that owls feed upon. A pair of Barn Owls can consume up to 70 pounds of rodents during a single breeding season.

A 2014 study showed that some raptor species in Orange County had nearly halted breeding.

“It’s all about prey availability,” says DeSimone. “If there aren’t any mice around, the Barn Owls won’t lay eggs.”

Starr Ranch has seen some rain this year, but no one is saying the drought is over. Typical annual rainfall in Orange County is about 14 inches. Thus far, Starr Ranch has seen about seven inches.

“While a lot of the conditions at the Ranch are the same as last year, perhaps we’ve had just enough rain to make a difference, to get that prey base started,” says DeSimone.

Researchers at the Audubon Starr Ranch have been tracking the affects of climate change, and the drought, on the sanctuary's flora and fauna -- a project that has extended to several California chapters as part of the BirdSeasons California project. This is in addition to the extensive work done by the staff to pilot new ways to remove non-native plants without herbicides, and restore native habitat.