March 2019 SOLC–Day 13
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Part 1: Yesterday’s post was called The Day I Didn’t See An Owl.
Part 2: Ever since I didn’t see an owl, it seems like everyone else is seeing them. I’ve become convinced that if I just look hard enough, I’ll see one. So, I drive everywhere slightly erratically, peering into the trees, occasionally crossing the center line, but to no avail. There are no owls in sight. At least not for me.
Since the owl I didn’t see, Kurt has seen two or three more barred owls, and then last week, as he drove home, a horned owl swooped out of the night and landed on a snow bank by the road.
“I could see his yellow eyes!” he enthused.
Then, at morning meeting a student shared with the class, “You guys! It was so cool! There was a barred owl outside my window on Sunday. It stayed there for like an hour!”
On the regional birding site I follow on Facebook, people are posting pictures of barred owls daily. There have even been a couple of saw whet owls spotted.
Owl sightings are definitely up. At least for everyone except me.
Unfortunately, more of the story has emerged. Apparently, it’s been a very difficult year for owls to hunt. With all the back and forth freezing and thawing, the snowpack has become very dense. The owls can’t get through it to their preferred rodent diet. We’re seeing more of them because they’re starving, and they’re coming to scope out bird feeders and other likely hunting areas. People are now reporting finding dead or severely malnourished owls. They’re trying to figure out what to do to help, but there isn’t much. It breaks my heart.
This past weekend after looking at some recent owl-related posts, I said to Kurt, “You know, I almost don’t want to see an owl now. I’m afraid it would mean that it was starving.”
And then…
Yup.
You guessed it.
Really.
Sitting at the table that afternoon, I glanced out the window, and there it was. A barred owl sitting in our birch tree above the bird feeders. Finally! After all my searching, it came straight to our house. And close, too! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I jumped up immediately, flapping wildly, barely able to speak in my excitement.
“An owl! It’s an owl! Kurt! There’s an owl! Kurt! Look! Right there in the tree! Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it! Look! There it is! A barred owl!”
I fluttered about for a few minutes, then grabbed my camera and flew to the window to take a few photos. And then a few more. And maybe just a few more.
Then we stood by the window together watching it through the falling snow. It was a gorgeous bird.
Kurt called softly to it a few times in his best barred owl call, “Hoo hoo ho hooooooo.”
I crooned to it. “Oh, you’re so beautiful!” and other sweet nothings along that line. I admired its feathers, its beak and its haunting, soulful eyes.
“It looks pretty healthy. Don’t you think?” I asked Kurt, seeking reassurance. “It’s alert and active, right?”
“Yeah,” he said, “I think so. In that one picture on-line the owl looked sort of slumped over, like it had its chin, if owls had chins, on its chest.”
I looked again. Our owl was definitely upright. No slump in sight.
Throughout the day, I watched and wondered and worried. When I wasn’t perched by the window, I’d glance frequently to check if the owl was still there. It remained for several hours, departed, and then returned again. I was entranced.
The how-to-help-an-owl consensus on-line was to sprinkle bird seed on the ground to attract rodents. Even though “our” owl looked fine, I determined to do my best. As night approached and the owl remained, I scattered generous handfuls of seed under the feeder. I never thought I’d be trying to attract rodents to my yard, but I guess I’ll do just about anything for an owl.
Shortly after nightfall, the owl left. I didn’t see it fly away. It was simply gone when I looked. It had left as silently as it arrived. There’s a spot in the birch tree that looks bare now. Owl shaped.
I’m hopeful that our owl was fine, and that the snow will soon thaw enough to improve its hunting. Its whole visit seems like a dream now, even though I have the pictures to prove it. But it’s true. I finally saw an owl.
Nix the comfort zone 
It is an amazing bird but It is sad that they are starving. There are so many changes happening everywhere. Here house sparrows have become almost extinct. Earlier we would see them everywhere.
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It is so sad! I had such mixed feelings about seeing it. You must miss your sweet sparrows. These changes are alarming.
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Yes, it is.
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OH, your slice leaves me happy and sad all at once. I can feel your excitement turn to concern. Owls are so beautiful. I love hearing them where I live.
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We also love listening to the owls. If one of us hears an owl call at night, we whisper-wake the other. Then we lie in bed and listen together. 🙂
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What I’ve just realized is that your posts about owls (and all things nature, really, when I look back) perfectly convey your excitement about nature. Your passion comes out in every word – you draw me in until I, too, am worried, excited, spreading seed in the hope of attracting rodents. Thank you for inviting me in to your passion. It is a wonderful place to sit for a while.
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What a lovely comment, Amanda. Thank you! It’s funny because that passion is relatively new for me, yet has enriched my life immeasurably.
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Your description of the situation and your photos of the owl are thoroughly engaging! In the past two weeks, I have heard an owl hooting outside of my house at night. I would love to see it!
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Oh! Good luck! I do hope you catch a glimpse of your visiting owl. It’s thrilling to see one in the wild.
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A Barn Owl lives in a nesting box I built several years ago, having raised many broods they too are elusive. Wood Ducks and Owls will find nesting boxes, it may take a year or more but they will inhabit it. Owls are amazing birds.
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How exciting to have owls nesting in your own nesting boxes! Barn owls are fascinating creatures. I read a great memoir (Wesley the Owl) about a woman who raised one that had nerve damage in its wing. I believe it’s quite rare to see barn owls in Maine as our weather is a bit too severe.
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Such an engaging post! Your last line was a fabulous end: “I never thought I’d be trying to attract rodents to my yard, but I guess I’ll do just about anything for an owl.”
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Thanks, Alice. It was a wonderful experience.
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I’m so happy there was a happy ending. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an owl in the wild either. Now you’ve got me looking too.
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If you’re looking, be careful driving. 🙂 Sometimes I’m amazed I haven’t gotten in an accident or driven off the road. I’m so distracted by any bird that flies by!
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OHHHH I love this post. I was so hoping it was going to end with a sighting. I felt so lucky to see a Barred Owl this winter as well. Only later did I read up on how this winter has been so hard on them and seeing so many is a result of desperation on their part to seek food. I’ve always loved owls and consider any sighting a blessing. LOVE your photos, too!
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Molly, everything about your post is perfect, just perfect! I know there are owls close by my house but I never see them. Perhaps one day I will be so fortunate.
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OMG! Somehow I was so in the moment that I was thinking that part one had happened yesterday…so in mind, part 2 had not happened yet. When I woke up this morning to your post, I was besides myself! I love, love, love your owl photos, especially that second to the last close up one (is it in a frame yet in your house?). Wishing your owls strength and persistence through the hard weather.
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More fantastic photographs. You’ve got an eye.
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