Wednesday, Many Crows

[nightdog_barks]

So yesterday was pretty much blah and not worth remembering? NOT SO THIS MORNING, because I saw one of THESE:



YOU GUYS. THAT IS A GREAT HORNED OWL. OMG. I heard blue jays squawking, and then they were joined by an entire consortium of crows, both sets of birds shouting at the tops of their little avian lungs. So I got up to see what the hell was going on, and they were all in our neighbor's tree by our back yard, along with the owl. Who was just sitting there, being all dignified, swiveling his head every now and then to glare at the crows. I grabbed my binoculars and focused in, and the owl looked at me. He saw me, of this I am absolutely sure. Chango couldn't figure out why the crows were yelling -- she kept looking back and forth at them and at me, and finally decided it might be safer to stand behind me. *g* I stepped out onto the deck, and everyone took flight. The crows pursued the owl, still fussing and calling, until I couldn't hear them anymore.

It was so frickin' awesome.

Comments

[perspi]

Of course, the owl was thinking, "WTF KIND OF CREATURE IS THAT, WITH THOSE BIG WEIRD EYE-THINGS STICKING OUT OF ITS HEAD?"

:D

[nightdog_barks]

AND "CAN I EAT IT?"

Heh.

[damigella]

I'm always so fascinated by your wildlife posts. This is really beautiful.
Oh, and the owl definitely saw you. Their visual acuity is amazing. Smart of you to keep binoculars handy; I used to do the same when we had a sea view to read the name of ships in harbor ;).

[nightdog_barks]

I couldn't believe it, Dami. We've lived in this neighborhood for over twenty years and I'd never seen an owl, much less a Great Horned Owl. I've heard them (a lot), but never seen one.

Heh, I keep my binoculars (a little pair of Olympus field lenses) on the kitchen counter. :-D

[elynittria]

That is so cool! I've only heard great horned owls in the wild and never actually seen one (though I'd love to).

I wonder why the crows were putting up such a fuss. I would have thought they would have wanted to keep a low profile around a predator.

[nightdog_barks]

Apparently this was part of what's called mobbing behavior, and it would take too much time and energy for the owl (or hawk or whatever) to catch one of the crows. This owl didn't seem too rattled by all the attention -- just annoyed. *g*

[elynittria]

Thanks for the link--it was very informative!

[silverjackal]

:) Wonderful post. I am surprised, though -- I would expect you to get more Great Horned Owls where you are, just geographically. They can be very cryptic, though. We get many here, so many that I often take them for granted, though they really are extraordinary birds. I tend to be very fond of the Great Greys, and the Short-eareds (who tend to be very "eh" about humans here and just ignore people), and the Western Screech, who are exquisite for all their evil glares!

[nightdog_barks]

Heh, there could be a whole boatload of Great Horned Owls living in our neighborhood and I'd never know it. I'm not a morning person (to put it mildly), and I've gotten out of the habit of walking at night. I've heard lots of owls around here -- Screeches and Barreds -- but never had the luck to actually see one until now.

:-D

[silverjackal]

Great Horned Owls tend to be very active at dusk -- though they hunt all night -- so that's the best time to look for them. Once you know they're in a particular location if you go back and look during the day you'll often see a weathered looking "stump" that will regard you out of narrow, malevolent yellow slits. :D

[bethctg]

Woah! Did you get goosebumps? I would have. ;)

[nightdog_barks]

I actually MISSED IT at first -- I kept thinking there must be something on the ground the crows were screaming at, but there's a wooden fence between our houses so I couldn't see anything. Then I changed position just a bit and wait a minute, that's not part of the tree that's a hawk no wait it's AN OWL. I was smiling. I couldn't stop. :-D

[taiga13]

That is AWESOME, you're so lucky!!!!!!!!! I'm jealous!!!
I saw a snowy owl once, from a long distance though.

[nightdog_barks]

Oh, snowy owls are gorgeous! Wish I could see one of those. :-D

[ignaz]

Those other birds were total owl groupies!

[nightdog_barks]

Ha, they were! And it is good to see you, Iggy! ♥