We have lived in this house for almost two years now. The first winter we had one night where we listened to an owl hoot over and over but it was just that one night. If you recall, last year I had the rare opportunity to each lunch with a Short-Earred owl. It stayed for about an hour but, again, just that one sighting.
Seeing an owl is a rare occurrence and it is very rare to see more than one owl at a time. On the Merlin bird app, the only owl listed for our area is the Great Horned Owl and it is a rare sighting.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I woke up around 07:15 on Oct. 9 and my brother’s dog Coco decided that he wanted to go out right away. I could just see light on the horizon and it was still mostly dark out. As I waited inside for him to come back up on the deck, I caught a glimpse of a bird flying past the window. The bird was too large for our usual morning Blue Jay visitors so I decided to go out on the deck to investigate. I looked up and saw four owls circling above my head, silently gliding above the deck. They did this circling pattern for a good five minutes before flying off into the trees.
This first sighting was unexpected, beautiful and wonderful. I was convinced it was a sign. There was this whole thing with owls when my aunt passed away two years ago and this owl sighting was two years to the day since her death.
That evening at sundown they were back and I managed to capture this video.
It was then that I noticed that they seemed to be more aggressive than friendly.
They were back the next day at sundown but they seemed to shift their focus to the dogs. They circle them and do low swoops over their heads.
To get our attention, they have hit the window on the deck or house; once at 2a.m.
I have anxiety about them going after Coco, I think of this scene from “The Proposal”.
Like Sandra Bullock I now end up traipsing around outside in my pajamas but, unlike her, I am trying to distract the owls so they don’t come down and take Coco.
When Coco decides he needs to go out at midnight, I turn on all the outside lights and still see them glide past in search of the dog.
The other night at sundown, when we let the dogs out, one of the owls landed on one of our garden posts. It sat there having a staring contest with Shay, the larger of the two dogs. She is quite good at staring. Eventually we were able to convince her to come back in.
We have seen them many evenings just at sundown when the dogs seem interested in going out. Some days it is just one owl and other days two or three come and take turns swooping over the dogs.
I guess I should be thankful that the owls will keep the mice population down but I wish they didn’t set there sights nightly on our bigger furrier prey.
I imagine I am a bit more concerned because the dogs are not mine. The last thing I want to have happen is ending up having to take a trip to the vet because they were attacked by owls.
I was looking for a new puzzle to start the other day and I came across this one. I knew right away that it was appropriate; an owl with a Halloween vibe background.
And to top off the story, it is the Hallowe’en Time.