Hoot Hooty-Hoot Hoot Hoot
December 14th, 2008 · 6 Comments
One thing I was sad to leave when we moved from our Lincoln Green apartment to our new house was the local owl population. In and around LG and Battleground Park live many barred owls and great horned owls, which can easily be seen during the day if you know where to look. The one pictured here is the best look at a great horned owl I’ve ever had. What a thrill it is to see and hear owls in the wild.
I had hoped to live near an owl or two at our new place, and it seemed likely since although we’re in town, we’re adjacent to several acres of woods. But for a little over a year, not a hoot. Until last night…
Around 11 p.m., after watching the 32nd episode of the Inspector Morse series, I heard—and actually felt—the almost subsonic hooting of a great horned owl. It didn’t register for a moment, but then it hooted again and, holy moley, Josh and I grabbed our coats and dashed out to the front yard. Hoot hooty-hoot hoot hooooot! The owl called every minute or so from the woods across the street. It couldn’t have been too far away from the sound of it. The sky was bright, being one night after that big full moon, and the air was still. I stood on the front stoop till the owl stopped hooting, then went back inside. After three weeks of noisy street de/construction (with way more TK) and losing a few trees in the process, a hooting owl was almost as good as a Xanax. Almost.
Tags: Great Horned Owl
6 responses so far ↓
1 Lynn // Dec 14, 2008 at 11:20 am
Oh! I have always wanted to see an owl — any kind of owl — in the wild. I never have. I did not realize there were that many owls there. I suppose they are here, too. Maybe. And maybe I will see an owl one of these days.
So sorry for all the noise you’ve endured lately. I know how that is. We have had public employees here before working on the drainage pipes near the road and on cutting back growth for power lines. And in the process I’ve lost a mosaic birdbath due to falling limbs and one fellow backed over one of my arbors. (How do you get that far into someone’s yard!!?)
Lynn
2 Mary // Dec 14, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Iris,
Isn’t the hoot of a GHO so definite? You can’t miss-ID that hoot. I’ve heard a GHO maybe a dozen times in three years here – and I saw its silohuette on my neighbor’s rooftop this summer at 5:30 am. But I WANNA SEE ONE! I’ve never seen an owl in the wild.
Keep those bins handy!!!
Mary
3 ramblingwoods // Dec 14, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I’ve been hearing (GHO) them or him or her or both of them for a couple of weeks. I guess I need to fine tune my ears in order to be able to tell exactly what I’m listening to. Great photo as I have never seen the pair I am assuming is in the back woods. I guess they nest here in January. Brrrrr…Have a very Happy Holiday Season to you and Josh!…@:}…Michelle
4 jan m // Dec 15, 2008 at 7:03 am
I’m so jealous! My husband says he used to point out owls to me when he saw them many, many years ago, but those were my pre-bird-appreciation days.
5 Carolyn Powell // Dec 15, 2008 at 7:46 pm
How wonderful to hear the owl. Especially during an Inspector Morse episode. I love that series.
6 Birdscapes // Dec 19, 2008 at 2:03 am
My first Great Horned experience was last night here at the apartment complex. A pair landed on an antenna attached to the office building next door and did a lot of hooting and displaying. Experiencing rain and lightning tonight, but hopefully they’ll be back as the mating season continues.