I woke up about four this morning to a calling owl: "Who who who-who? Who who who-who?" Over and over, with undertones of the sound of someone blowing air across the open top of a big ceramic jug, questioning and slightly spooky. The sounds were deep enough to be a Great Horned Owl, but the pattern is more like the Barred Owl.
We've had a family of owls in the neighborhood for several years. In the spring and summer, they make an assortment of sounds that remind me of tropical birds, and I have seen them holding flying lessons for young owls in our alley, swooping from one power pole to the next.
It's a gift to have these raptors in our neighborhood. When I was young, any kind of owl or hawk was a rare sight. Little screech owls would occasionally use the patio of my parents' house to stride around and raise a ruckus, but it was uncommon. They've come back and now I often see red-tailed hawks at the North Campus and a half-dozen big, black vultures that soar over the intersection of Kessler and College Avenues in the evenings.
I believe I'd avoid Kessler and College Avenues. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAs long as the owl doesn't call your name.....
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: you just concentrate on not looking dead, and they ignore you.
ReplyDeletePrairiedruid: nope. It's calling out the mice and rats by name!
Great Horned Owls are informally known as "five-hooters," because their typical hooting pattern is in groups of five HOO hoo HOO HOO HOO. Barred owls are known as "eight-hooters": HOO HOO huh HOO, HOO HOO huh HOOAH! The pnemonic for remembering the Barred Owl call is "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all?"
ReplyDeleteThis was closer to "Who cooks for you," but deeper than a typical barred owl and, in hindsight, maybe it was groups of five.
ReplyDelete