R: Great Horned Owl.
Today I fit in two very short visits to my backyard amongst my errands and whatnots.
First, I stopped by The Oasis to check in on those tiny white fungi I found earlier in the week. Two more are there now, but all are still that tiny size. No word yet from Alan on iNat on them. Is he on vacation OR WHAT.
Second, I had about half an hour so I stopped by to see if I could find my owls. To my surprise, I saw THREE butterflies on the way to the owl nursery! Now, you don’t likely recall that I saw THREE butterflies in the Secret Gardens a bit ago. Well, I DID. And these three were one West Coast Lady and two Red Admirals. Often all swirl-fighting together like Kung Fu MASTERS. Such a treat!
While getting some photos of them, a man on a bicycle stopped to ask me, “Are they there?” He was referring to the Great Horned Owls of the East, of course. I told him I hadn’t yet seen any, and he smiled and continued on to the owl nursery. He immediately said, “There’s one!” And, sure enough, one was there. Napping away.
We chatted for a bit. He’d been watching them since earlier this year. Once a week. I told him how you can tell females and males apart, the two years I’ve been watching them, the owlet from last year, and so forth. Yep, I’m the Official GHO Docent of GGPark, folks.
Oh, and this reminds me. Earlier today, I received a compliment on my Official Owl Witch pin that Carrie bestowed upon me. Now, I often get compliments on it. And I mean OFTEN. This conversation with the grocery checkout guy led to him saying to me (after he also complimented my jacket), “It reminds me of that movie.” I asked if he was thinking of Harry Potter, as I’ve heard that a number of times from previous complimenters. “No, that older one with the Greek…” “Clash of the Titans?” I interrupted. “YES!” It’s just funny what sometimes arises from entirely random compliments from strangers I have as a result of my pin. I wonder if Carrie knew that’d happen…
Back to my journey, I thought Ma Owl was in the owl nursery. But looking at my photos once I got home, I’m not so certain. Kinda on the small side? I thought Ma Owl seemed to stick around at the owl nursery longer than Pa Owl. So that was my assumption. But, WHO KNOWS when they’re not next to each other.
I left the man, after we exchanged first names, to continue looking for the other owl. No luck. But a quick stop at the Lily Pond showed me that the Hooded Mergansers and Ring-necked Ducks gang is back! And a Red-shouldered Hawk swooped up in my view and into that tall Pine where I’ve seen it many times before and had looked for it not a minute prior.
Took the back way back to the owl nursery for one last look. And that man was still there, chatting with a couple and looking up at the owl. So nice when folks stay to watch and observe for more than a second. Even when they’re sleeping, they’re so magical to look at.
Chatted briefly with them, when the man asked me something about the GHOs to relay to the couple. The man in the couple told me he’d worked in GGPark for some time as a gardener and for the city for most of his career. Always neat to meet former GGPark folks. And always just so warmnfuzzy to chat with strangers about something you all find interesting. Seems not to happen often in this city, but I’ve found those developed skills of avoiding others when you’re in public in a city are more easily broken when out Naturing. I’ll admit that I like that element of it. I do.
So, yeah. A full day of Naturing that fit into about 35 minutes. That’s a Good Friday, folks.
The Afternoon Naturalist 