I have a new Barn Owl!
We lost our resident barn owl to a falcon or hawk late in the summer. The man that picks up the owl pellets (tiny mouse skeletons he finds in our barn to sell to school science classes) told us that there are some owls that travel from place to place and don’t have a real home and that chances were pretty good that one of those transient owls would find our barn a good place to make a home. I think we have a new owl friend. I’ve seen him three times now and heard him on two evenings.
Silly me, the first time I heard him at night I was on the back porch doing laundry and I heard his call. I stuck my head out the window and said, “Mr. Owl? Is that you? Have you come to live here?” And then I waited, quietly, with my head stuck out into space, listening for an answer.
No, he didn’t answer me. Yes, I ended up feeling very silly. But, you know, I also ended up feeling rather hopeful and feeling as though I had recovered at least a small amount of childlike wonder. It felt good.
, and Lover of Words. I'm of mixed heritage (1/2 Ozark Hillbilly, 1/2 Southern Belle), I live in the Pacific NW and I love to talk about my family, quilting and country living.
The next Sugar 'n Spice Girls Quilts of Valor Corps meeting is Thursday, January 7. Email me at kz@tds.net for more info or call Linda at the Sugar n' Spice quilt shop at 360.496.6629
Love the sound of an owl! I haven’t heard one since I moved from my sister’s farm. In my neighborhood I hear chickens!
How wonderful that you have a new resident!
What is it with owls, anyway? I just LOVE them. We get summer saw-whet owls as neighbors and just love spying them and hearing their wobbly voices!
Not silly at all. I find myself talking to animals all the time (though my tone is less friendly when it’s a wasp that has invaded the house). Hope he sticks around for a while–I can’t imagine that he won’t feel at home! And how fascinating about pooped skeletons!
I caught your name in the comment section of “The Bug” blog (Dana) and just had to stop by
I’m a Kim also and I love to quilt! Am book marking your blog and will come back when I have more time to read and get to know you. Have a great week!
We have an owl in our neighborhood too. I have no idea where it lives or what flavor it is. I’ve only heard it.
Prepare yourself for the blonde moment – okay. I kept clicking the blue circle thinking you had recorded your new friend and I would get to hear it. After five or six clicks and a check on my media player, I realized with a big ole “Ahhhhh” this is the owl in flight…Now I get it.
bwahhahaha great good morning hugs to you, blondie! I can SOOOO relate!
Don’t feel silly, I think many people would have spoken aloud to the feathered visitor. At our old house we had Hard Working Robin. A robin who was a little rangy, and thin, who came with his mate to build a nest on one of our eaves for two seasons. We had a six-foot privacy fence encompassing our backyard, and as HWR would fly about, building his nest, eventually feeding his young, he’d perch atop it, and tweet at us madly as we sat outside. It was like he was saying, “Look at me! Look at me! I am conquering the elements, providing for my family! I’m taking on all comers!” We had a great affinity for Hard Working Robin, and missed him when he did not return for a third season.
I’ll tell you honestly that I still peer hopefully around our new backyard, waiting for our new version of him, or any of the other critters we grew attached to. So far we only have Fwup, a deranged pigeon who is convinced he lives outside of my office, and who I’ve had pest control companies out to try and speed him on his journey (and the company finds me frustrating because I don’t want them to kill him). We finally managed to evict him, and in his place? It would appear Son of Fwup has become determined to live in the eave outside my office.
We also have Cottontail Anne and Cottontail Stan, plus the Birdbrain Twins (two doves who huddle near our steaming fountain when it gets cold, and who perch underneath the diving board in the rain).
Just saying, you’ve got a lot of company in the silliness
I hope you have a new barn owl, it’s amazing how the smaller creatures round out our world, isn’t it?