My wife and I enjoy our backyard and the birds that visit. When an Oriole visited our yard this spring at the migration time, we rejoiced that we got to see the bright plumage. We have a humming bird feeder that attracts an occasional Ruby Throated humming bird that seems to live high up in the neighbor’s maple tree. We regularly feed birds and note if there are new visitors to the yard. Last fall we saw some goldfinches feeding on our coneflowers in the fall and we certainly hope to see them again, this year, but no sign of them so far. We are wondering if the drought is affecting bird visits to our neighborhood? During this stressful dry weather, we need to be extra vigilant about providing drinking water for the birds around our house.
One bird that we have heard recently but find hard to see is the Great Horned Owl. When the nights are cool, we have slept with the windows open. Noises of various sorts most notably the sirens of Medic vehicles racing along West Central Park Avenue, can disturb our sleep. But after so many years we can sleep through siren screams most of the time. For many nights just after dark and before sunrise I have heard the unmistakingly loud hoots of the largest of all owls. But tonight after sunset but while it was light enough to see silhouettes I heard the hoots of our nocturnal predator that had become so familiar. I called my wife to the back yard and it sounded like Mr. Owl was in the big Maple across the alley about 75 yards away. We pulled up lawn chairs and just enjoyed the experience. It wasn’t long when we noticed the sight of the big bird flying to a higher perch. We were so excited to see the owl we could hardly stand it. He or she continued to sit on the bare branch allowing us to see the turn of its head, the tufts of feathers that form its “horns” and to judge the owls magnificent stature probably 24 inches high.
What of the hoots of the Great Horned Owl? While not as loud as the sirens, its call has a haunting quality that draws me out of my sleep and I wonder what critter is the owl after tonight? Our neighborhood birds do enhance our quality of life, if only we take the time to enjoy them.
