2nd Family's daughter, loves to roam around on the trails I have cleared and mowed and she's really into taking pictures of trees and flowers and birds.
So the other day she emailed us this photo:
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| Owl in tree |
It's an owl (amazing how camouflaged they can be) sitting in a tree near our house. She said she has seen this owl in this tree several times and hoped to snap a picture. She got this one picture, though she readily admits it's a bit fuzzy because she was pretty far away trying not to spook it.
I'm not sure how you encourage an owl to stay around but if they snatch up mice and rats, they can stay as long as they want to, LOL. She's going to point out the tree to me so I can try to get a few pictures myself.
We just love sharing our property with the local wildlife
(most of it anyway, ha).
Anyone have any owl experience?
what an honor to have an Owl, visit, I have found the best way to keep an Owl around is to leave them be, lol, they like their space, lol, and when the mice run out of numbers they will most likely move on,,,what a beauty!
ReplyDeleteWe use to feed the birds daily from a bird feeder in the middle of the garden. Naturally, the rats and mice soon discovered it and made it their nightly visiting spot. We only discovered this when we noticed an owl sitting on the roof above the feeder every night, waiting for his dinner. So you see, in the end, it was still a bird feeder! The owl visited for almost a week but we then stopped feeding the birds this way. As nice as the owl was, it couldn't keep up with the vermin. I'm just wondering whether the owl in your picture is actually an owlet? I don't know your owl species but those feathers look a bit stunted to me.
ReplyDeleteWe hear the owls more than see them here. Last fall I got an owl box and had help putting it up.
ReplyDeletehttp://birdsbloomsbooksetc.blogspot.com/2013/11/owl-house-up.html You may consider doing that.
As a kid on my parents farm I was herded by my dad down the lane to the back of the property with my mom and sister to see a snowy owl. This was a rare sighting at the time. Of late we are seeing more of them..
ReplyDeleteWatch out for any small pets you let out at night. My Mom lost a chihuahua to either an owl or a hawk one night.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in the country, I loved to sit in the late evening listening to the owls. There were two of them, hooting to each other. With grain crops on three sides, there were always plenty of mice and rats for them to eat, so they stayed around. And I was always happy to have them as neighbors because of their food preference.
ReplyDeleteAs a kindergarten teacher, one of my favorite children’s books was “Owl Moon” by Jane Yolen. It perfectly captures the wonder and awe of going “owling” on a moonlit night, trying to spot the farm’s owls - something y’all might try when the weather’s warmer.
If I don't get the chance
ReplyDeleteHappy new year to you
Jxxxx
We had an owl living on our property for months two winters ago. It became very trusting of me, and I was able to get up close to photograph it. It was eating the mice in the henyard.
ReplyDeleteWe have several barred owls who make their homes in the big evergreens that circle our property. We hear them almost daily, and at certain times of the year they get louder and more obvious. They perch about 15 to 20 feet up in trees and watch over the open areas to watch for mice venturing out. Our best sightings came near the little pond we set up. We found an owl sitting nearby watching for the fish to surface. They gobbled them up like fresh snacks each time we stocked the pond with cheap little goldfish. We always happily buy more fish, because I'll trade an owl sighting for a fish any day. What a glorious being to share our home land with. We even named our home Owls Haven. See pictures of courting behavior at: http://owlshaven.blogspot.com/2013/04/shes-back-and-she-brought-friend-its.html We haven't posted for a while, but there are some good pictures there.
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! yes, we have two different kinds of owl here. The horned owl, which hoots by the window late at night and the screech owl......or barn owl which is white and has a face like an old man. It screeches as we sit out at night around the fire. A mother raccoon and her 3 little ones have been coming up to the feeder to eat at night. I have enjoyed watching them play on our porch. The other night I noticed that now there is only two baby coons.......so I am afraid that the owls got the other baby. It is all a part of nature, I know..........but still sad. Here's wishing you a Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteWe rescued a baby owl who had apparently fallen from his nest at a local cemetery. We would have left him and his parents to their own devices but there was a pack of dogs roaming in the vicinity and the bird was too young to fly. This "baby" owl was pretty big with a serious chomping beak and some talons that could get your attention if given the chance. We tossed a towel over him, put him in a big cardboard box, took him home, fed him boiled ham which he enjoyed immensely, and named him Chomper. I use male pronouns here but this could have been a female. In either case it was a beautiful bird. The next day we took him to a local bird wildlife rescue outfit since boiled ham is likely not a proper diet for a growing owl and we were not equipped in the least for raising a wild creature such as this. Four weeks later they released him back into the wild. That was about five years ago. I often think of Chomper and wonder how he/she is doing.
ReplyDeleteBefore I moved back here to a regional coastal 'city', I always lived on farms in the country and owls were very much part of life. I've come home late at night to find one on the gate post, turned the car lights down and just watched it for however long it wanted to sit there. Owls were aplenty in the Hunter Valley and in Tasmania and I adore them - and you guessed it my house is loaded with the ornamental types as well. I love the symbolism of wisdom and learning.
ReplyDeleteNew Year greetings! only a few hours until countdown here :)
A couple of weeks ago, I was driving to a friend's house (we both live just outside the city limits) at night, and at a highway crossing, I saw a small round object in the road just ahead of me. I was just going to straddle it with my truck, but something made me stop and get out. In the light from the headlights, I saw a very small owl sitting in the middle of the road! It turned it's head to look at me, but didn't move otherwise. I was thinking it must be hurt, or maybe a baby owl just kicked out of its nest by its mom (weird in December, I guess, but I don't know when owls get kicked out haha). So, I was debating what to do and just watched it watching me for a couple of minutes, then I started back towards the truck to see if I had a towel or some type of cloth to wrap it up in to take it with me. At that point, it looked away, then looked at me one last time, and flew away. Very cool moment, but I still have no idea why it was just resting in the middle of the road like that. Anyone else probably would have run it over without a thought.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, have a very happy New Year's! As always, I love reading your adventures!
How wonderfully blessed to have an owl hanging around.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I think I would put up a couple of owl boxes for them to nest in.
Wishing you and everyone there on your end a Very happy, Healthy and Safe New Years.
Happy New Year Wish
My Happy New Year wish for you
Is for your best year yet,
A year where life is peaceful,
And what you want, you get.
A year in which you cherish
The past year’s memories,
And live your life each new day,
Full of bright expectancies.
I wish for you a holiday
With happiness galore;
And when it’s done, I wish you
Happy New Year, and many more.
By Joanna Fuchs
I don't remember ever having seen an owl in the wild, only in a cage. However, I may have just forgotten. Owls will get your baby chicks when you get them, the hens, too.
ReplyDelete