The weather this weekend was stunning. The mister and I took a late afternoon walk in the university arboretum. We had walked only a short way into the woods, when he heard the hoot of a great horned owl, and then an answering call. One sounded as if it was right overhead, which it indeed was. We found it with the binoculars, and it was a little unsettling and a lot cool to discover that as we looked at it, it was looking right at us!
When our eldest daughter was a toddler, one of her favorite books was Jane Yolen's Owl Moon. It is a gorgeous picture book about a little girl who goes owling with her dad one snowy moonlit night. There was one page in the middle of the book that showed the great horned owl lighting on a branch, and Cinderbelle would invariably say, "Hi, Poppy!" when we got to that page. We bought her a stuffed toy owl that year for Christmas.
Sparkly Sea Cow, on the other hand, was inexplicably terrified of owls at that age. Anytime we were outside after dark, she would ask, "Are there owls here?" On a few occasions just after we'd lied and said no, there would be the unmistakable "hoo, hoo" in the night.
Personally, I love owls, and it was a thrill to hear and see one today. I was also reminded that our arboretum is an amazing gem in the heart of the city. I always have some kind of close encounter with an animal there: migrating warblers, wild turkey, deer, a snake ... I must make a point of getting there on a regular basis. It was one of my playgrounds when I was a kid, and it is still every bit as cool.
(I didn't take the photo, by the way. Found it doing an image search. )
10 comments:
Owl eyes are extremely cool, too. Very large with delicate bony plates to strengthen them.
Very nice.
Poodle Doc, do you have personal experience with owl eyes?
Wonderful post. I just adore owls so much and yes, they are eerie but such amazing creatures. Thank you for sharing!
Sparkly Sea Cow had strange fears/loves of a lot of things.
I really enjoyed reading this post! Your description of the encounter brought it to life. I see a book publisher in your future.
Funny funny funny telling of the perceptions of cinder and sparkly.
Great pic and story. I can almost always hear owls in the woods behind my house. Barred I think.
Here is a great time waster,
http://www.owlpages.com/sounds.php
owl calls.
Sorghum Crow: Thanks for the link to the owl calls. Very cool.
Sorghum Crow, you know some of the coolest obscure web sites that are right up my alley: cheese making, owl calls ... Keep 'em coming!
I love owls! And that is a great photo, I know you didn't take it.
Sorghum Crow always has these great side trips. No wonder I am so behind in my blog reading!!
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