A couple of owls

Sometime over the last 10 years or so, owls have moved into our neighborhood. Maybe they've always been here, but before then I wasn't paying enough attention to the natural world around me, but I don't think so. I've always been quite observant of nature, so I think it's more just a matter of getting enough "good" trees around here -- trees that owls would find attractive to nest in.

Besides the trees in the yards, there's a small forested area a few houses down the street from me, and that's the key -- that's where the owls live. (It's also where the deer often go, but that's nothing to do about owls.)

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Although this post is about a couple of great horned owls, we also have barred owls here. Great horned owls have a nice "classic" hooty call, and it's quite loud and penetrating. I'll hear it when I'm in the basement with all of the doors and windows closed, and in the summer when the windows are open? Let's just say an owl perched outside your window at 3:00 AM is not something you'll sleep through.

Anyway, I watched this particular owl for a few minutes, and had the video camera going. (I still get excited about owls whenever I see them, and always grab a camera.) He was happily hooting away at the top of my almost-dead black locust tree, and then he saw something:

He hooted a little more forcefully, then flew off:

Or so I thought. I was a bit surprised about what happened next, but caught it on video. (The video quality isn't the best as it was getting quite dark out and I was shooting through the window. There is no sound in this clip because of that.)

It was over so quickly, it was one of those "right place at the right time" events that must be going on all the time.



Back in November I caught what may have been these same two birds in my neighbor's tree:

The male was hooting, but the female (I think) was screeching loudly. It was an incredibly annoying sound, and it went on for 20 minutes.

He saw me come out onto the deck

I also got some video of that encounter, which was just calling -- neither bird moved from its chosen branch while I was watching. So this video is more for the sound than the visuals:

As I said, I get really excited when I hear or see an owl, probably because I don't encounter them too often. I think the only bird I'd be more excited to see in my yard would be 1) a bald eagle,  2) a turkey, or 3) a turkey vulture. Each of these is possible for our area, but unlikely in my suburban yard.

I'll take owls as a "consolation prize" though. Even at 3:00 AM.