Remember when John Denver sang that catchy tune,
Thank God I'm A Country Boy!"? Well, anyone who know me knows that I am
not of the same persuasion - in short, I am not a Country Girl. As a matter of fact, if you look up "country girl" in the dictionary, you will see a picture of my face in a red circle with the universal red slash across. And my lovely, long, sound nights of sleep have have never been bothered by planes, trains, or automobiles. But I have met my match. An owl has decided to make the trees that flank the creek that runs behind my apartment his (or her) home - and he often has visitors. The first picture which looks like a feather covered Volkswagen Bug in the tree is my permanent owl. The second picture is a smaller one (only about the size of Tom Cruise) that visits often. I checked with my friends from the pool at the Y, Ron and Amy, and found that the different types of hooting would tell which type of owl I had. And that attempts to keep it awake all day to try to change its sleep pattern might not be a good idea. Actually Amy was the one who knew all about the owls - she was a birder, like Jack Black in
The Big Year, but there is nothing about living here that Ron or Amy can't tell you about. They actually like the sound of the owl, since it means all the mice won't be a problem. I'm not there yet.
We are disturbed by so many noises from nature here - sometimes owls, often curlews, possums, geckos,screeching cockatoos, cats, dogs. Being in the city we also hear emergency sirens, and sometimes young kids on midnight car excursions of the speeding kind! It's a jungle out there ...
ReplyDeleteEventually you learn to sleep through anything :)
Our owls are across the road and pick off rodents from the allotments and the park, so we don't have your particular problem. We have had blackbirds (singing in the dead of night) but thankfully they were passing through. Pigeons are very annoying and roosted in our copper beech tree outside the bedroom window for a while. When we had the tree trimmed an old nest came down and since then I've gone out with a broom to try to prevent any more being built. It does drive a person batty. Have you tried counting the hoots?
ReplyDeleteWith those ear tufts, I've you've got a great horned. Exciting!
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Horned_Owl
Here is its call (hoot):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsTKkLxtGx4
-s
Yes, a Great Horned Owl! The link below has more info on their nesting habits. It does say they will attack if they think the nest is being threatened. They like to use other birds nests, so look for large nests in their area (crow or hawk's nests). They nest in January and February.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Bubo&species=virginianus
Amy
Thanks for stopping by so I could find your lovely blog. I so miss the tui songbirds that we heard in the morning in New Zealand. They have only three notes but they are all pretty (also they will imitate anything around them like washing machines!)
ReplyDeleteYou got such great pictures; can;t believe you got that close! We hear hoot owls occasionally and I love the sound. But they don't stay around long enough to keep us awake. Wishing you a good night's sleep soon!
ReplyDeleteIt would be exciting to see an owl up close as you have, not exciting to have it keep me awake though. You got some great pics.
ReplyDeleteDarla
What a coincidence: I heard a hoot owl late this afternoon but in the distance. I loved hearing it. I thought of you.
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia - I had no idea you were near enough to the city noises, since I always think of you as living in such a rural setting, rather like Sanda. I was surprised at how quickly I got used to the hoots. though.
ReplyDeleteHi Shelley - Counting the hoots like sheep? Pretty clever! But the Beatles reference is still cracking me up. I agree that it is worthwhile to do anything to discourage pigeons. I think my Grandfather used to eat them. But he did prefer doves, flavorwise.
ReplyDeleteHi Simone - My old netbook doesn't have sound anymore, so I had to wait until I could use my son's, but that is definitely the call. Thanks! And you are right about it being exciting - more so being able to read about them. It eats skunks and armadillos - both of which we have in abundance here. Also Heron, which made sense after my friend Amy told me that she is pretty sure the stream behind my apartment used to be a Heron rookery, so Great Horned Owls was what she thought, too.
ReplyDeleteHi Jody - I always enjoy your blog - it's interesting to see what you are up to! I did envy you that trip to New Zealand -it sounded quite exciting and very relaxing. I think I was first hooked when I read what you wrote about your sister. What did you say the nurse (who thought nothing of the fishing fly that was stuck to your sister's face) would have said if it was you? I could totally relate to being just the tiniest bit disappointed that the nurse wouldn't think you were wild and crazy enough for face decoration.
ReplyDeleteHi Sanda - I was pleased with these pictures. I thought you might have owls, out there in the country.
ReplyDeleteHi Darla - I wasn't all that close - I got a new camera for Christmas and was trying the super zoom out. When I figured out how huge that girl owl was, I was happy to keep my distance.
ReplyDeleteHi again Sanda - Nice to know they are around to keep the rodents away!
ReplyDeleteI too have an owl problem. I've only seen mine once.
ReplyDeleteHi Mickie! Do you remember Amy, from Water Aerobics? She is a bird expert and says that as long as you don't have any small pets, owls are actually good to have around. And I have no problem sleeping through the hooooo-ing now.
ReplyDeleteHi A.my - Your comment go lost in the Blogger fog and I just found it. Thanks for all the Owl info!
ReplyDelete