OWL HUNT

Telemain and I went on an Owl Hunt this evening. Don't worry--no owls are harmed during our version of an Owl Hunt.

We live in a regular university neighborhood, in a small house on a street of small houses, with a small yard on a street of small yards.

However, some of the houses near us have big yards, and we live half a block from a park that has lots of large trees. The neighborhood in general is an older one, so most of the trees are mature, even in the small yards.

So we get the occasional larger bird wandering around. Just a block away, I once saw a buzzard eating a dead squirrel. I see what's presumably that same buzzard flying now and then. I can hear some sort of hawk calling from the park, sometimes. And on occasion, we hear owls hooting at dusk.

Sometimes months go by without my hearing any owls, sometimes I hear them several evenings in a row. If they sound close, and it's not dark yet, sometimes I go out and have a look.

I thought I heard two this evening, hooting back and forth, and not far away. So I grabbed the dog and a leash and we went out to look. A couple of yards down the alley were some crows and blue jays putting up a fuss--a sign of a possible owl. So I looked up into the tree where all the cawing was coming from, and there he was, looking down at me--an owl. It appeared to be a barred owl.

I went home and got Alan, and he came to have a look too. The owl stayed put quite a while, staring at us. Never hooted or flew away, so eventually we went back into the house.

No point to this post, really. I just thought I'd write about my owl hunt. For anyone who thinks this is an interesting topic, rather than thinking "Boy, this chick is weird," you might want to read Red-Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in Central Park by Marie Winn.