Monday, September 30, 2013

Owl Post


I think someone might be trying to send me a message via owl post.  I’d test my theory by leaving a window open at night so as to receive the missive, except that stink bugs and mosquitoes are also trying to leave me a “message,” and can be found at any given time hovering on the other side of my screens.  So the screens will stay down, thank you very much.

But anyway, last fall Sean and I were awakened by the strange trillings of what we later figured out was an Eastern Screech Owl.  We didn’t actually see the owl (it was of course always late at night when we heard it), but for a couple of weeks it would make its sound close by our house.  Then Saturday night I was up nursing Owen at 4 and I heard what I thought was someone whistling on our property.  I listened as the little tune changed and got closer, and then I began to find the whole thing a bit creepy—for why would someone be walking near our house and whistling at 4 in the morning, if not to execute some nefarious plan? 

Sean heard the whistling too, however, and he was able to figure out that it was coming from high up in a tree.  I did some you-tube sleuthing and finally found a recording of the EXACT strange little whistling tune—and it was a great horned owl!

The whole episode pleases me way more than it should.  Two owls!  Hovering nearby our very own house!  I even think I might go search under the tree for pellets!

Plum thinking, what kind of moron whistles
a stupid little tune in the middle of the night?


2 comments:

Elisabeth said...

How exciting! I would be very pleased about that too. We have a lot of squirrels. Somehow that's much less interesting than your owls--though not to Roxy, who adores to chase squirrels in her imagination. Lovely pic of Plum. He looks very lavender in it!

Elizabeth said...

Dorothy has moved on from squirrels to our yard woodchuck. She loves to chase him, and I'm beginning to think he likes being chased.

Plum does have his purple moments!