A good luck omen
One of the advantages of living on a lake is the proximity of wildlife, mostly birds. I had been told you should never have your desk in your bedroom. However, my bedroom has such a beautiful view and it just seemed natural to keep my desk in front of the window, where I could look out over my computer and see what is going on out there. I can hear the cry of the Kingfisher just in time to look up and see him dive from the limbs of a weeping bottle brush tree. Or I can hear the call of an Osprey and know to look up high and see him perched on a branch , fish in his claws, and watch him devour his meal for the next several hours. And in the early evening or early morning, at certain times of the year, I can hear the call of the owl and I know the owl has returned.
The next day, I will go out at dusk and sit quietly on the bank until I hear the call. By following the sound, I can usually determine which tree he is in. From there it is a matter of forcing my eyes to look for the carefully camouflaged animal hiding from me there.
Once I looked up and saw a very large horned owl , nestled so tightly against the trunk of a pine tree, that it was a long while before I really saw him. I would guess him to be about 20 inches high. He looked something like a cat nestled there and I found that they are sometimes called “cat birds”. Needless to say, he had seen me before I ever moved off my stalking spot.
He was glaring down at me with such a fierce look that I was frightened that he would swoop down and pick me up in his talons, fly over the lake,and drop me off!
You can see from this photo, taken from a website called “Everystockphoto.com” that they are really well protected by their coloration.
I then went back to sitting quietly and , eventually, heard the call again. Being patient, I then heard an answer. I began to slowly walk along the lake and up the path, stopping and listening along the way. Ultimately. I determined where the reply had come from. Across the pond, in a large tree, I saw another large owl and a smaller one. The smaller one, still quite bulky, was fluffy with new feathers. The cries continued back and forth across the lake as the parents tried to encourage the baby to fly. I watched for almost an hour and the baby did finally fly to another branch.
What a thrill! I have never heard this, but I think owls must be good luck omens. I was once having some serious surgery done and the morning of my appointment, I was awakened with the cry of an owl. I took it to be a good sign.
Living in Florida, I would imagine these big birds are migratory. We usually see them in the fall and don’t see them any more after spring .Since growth and development are gradually taking over most of Florida’s natural habitat, I expect they are becoming scarce. His competition in our particular lake is the alligator, so I’m not sure how hard it is to feed.
To quote Wikipedia:These birds hunt at night by waiting on a high perch and swooping down on prey. Prey is varied. Predominantly small to medium-sized mammals such as hares, rabbits, racoons, rats, squirrels, mice, moles, voles, marmots, shrews, bats, armadillos, weasels and gerbils. It's even a natural predator of porcupines and skunks (like most birds it has poor sense of smell). Birds also comprise a large portion of a Great Horned Owl's diet, ranging in size from kinglets to Great Blue Herons. Waterbirds, especially coots and ducks, are hunted; even raptors, up to the size of Snowy Owls, are sometimes taken. The owls sometimes eat farmers chickens and small to medium and largish dogs. But reptiles, amphibians, fish, crustaceans and even insects only count for occasional prey. Cannibalism has been recorded.
When I was teaching elementary school, one of our science activities was to dissect an owl pellet. Owls cannot digest bones and feathers , so they regurgitate them in a little ball, once a day. These pellets are sterilized and sold by science equipment companies to schools. By dissecting a pellet and using the bones to re-construct the animals, or simply by counting skulls, you can determine how many animals a day are needed by one owl. Owls are territorial, so it can be a good lesson for budding minds in understanding the food chain.
Finally, to teach you a new word: Crepuscular: animals which appear at night.
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