Whooo's outside?



Photo by Ashley Hockenberry, Ontario, Canada  owlpages.com

We must have really cheap windows. (Who am I kidding – I live in a suburban house that was built in two days!) Even with the air conditioner on, I can hear what’s going on outside. And I kind of like that.

Since we moved into what I call our tree house five years ago (all I see out my windows is a sea of green in the summer), we’ve been introduced to all kinds of wildlife. The first year it was snakes (can leave those behind, thank you), we constantly have deer, still another year it was a nest of hornets I accidentally brought into our house (don’t ask), and this year, it’s an owl.

I’m a night owl (ha!) myself, so I love when Mr. Hooty comes out and starts calling for his mate. Something about his hoot is so relaxing and peaceful. Sometimes she answers back and I’ll find myself dropping my hands from the keyboard to listen to their conversation. Seems they don’t have a lot of time to talk (with them being solitary and nocturnal and all), so I hope they make good use of their time together. I hope their conversations are more than about “who” fed the kids and how many rodents they got, or “who” forgot to pay the water bill, or even “who” is going to pick up the kids after school. I hope they really make it count.

Since I can’t see them in the forest of trees, I did a little research to find out “who” might be making that sound. According to owlpages.com, I’ve concluded they’re Great Horned Owls (or Bubo virginianus). Okay, guess where they’re from (I love taxonomy - what nerdy wordy girl wouldn’t?). They were first spotted in the Virginia colonies in the 1700s, but are very common across North America.

They’re big fellas – about two feet tall with a wingspan of three to five feet! But this is the very cool thing – they only weigh a couple of pounds. Hollow bones. (Oh why couldn’t humans have jumped on that technology?!) They’re the ones with the huge orange eyes – the classic owl photo.

I also read that they can occupy the same territory for up to eight years so I guess I’m in for a few more nights of owl love.

This is like the conversation I hear at night (except mine sound a little more relaxed – these must be from the East Coast – mine are Midwesterners): http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sounds/Owl_GreatHorned_Duet.mp3

So do you find it peaceful or annoying?