We've had a lot of critter activity lately. Last week, I was assaulted by an angry deer in the backyard, last night, a pack of coyotes went tearing through the front yard. The opossums and raccoons are active, and a black cat has moved into our barn.
We've also had a lot of birds. Today was the first day for bluebirds and cedar waxwings.
Last Friday while walking Sugar in the evening, I caught a flash of movement that turned out to be a Saw-whet owl, the origin of our house's current name. One owl landed on a branch in a maple, about 20 feet up, and called out for about 5 minutes until a second owl flew right on in. Saw-whet are friendly little owls. They're one of 4 species of owls we've seen on the property, and are by far the tiniest and cutest. Coming close to the saw-whet in diminutive stature is the screech owl, which we have a large number of on the property. These fellows don't strike me as particularly cute. I always think that they want to fly into my face and tear it up. We have a pair of these eastern screech owls living in our front porch this year. They show no apprehension about our presence at all. The 2 of them sat and watched us work in the yard for about 20 minutes.
Dustin Diamond
Tiffany Amber Thiesen
Cool - owls rock! Chris and I saw a Saw-whet on a hike in the 'dacks back in aught-one. The Screech might not be much to look at (I agree with your assessment of what they might be thinking based on their appearance) but I find their call pretty cool.
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