The Return of the Owl

Monday morning came with a peaceful and quiet start of a new day and a new workweek.  The kids were back in school; there was no sound of traffic, and there was no twitter from the birds in our park.   While we were waiting for the coffee pot to perk, we watched the grass grow.

What flew in the sunshine and created a fleeting shadow?  It landed in our pond.  It was the return of an owl.  It looked somewhat smaller than the owl that had visited us before.  Maybe this was an off spring.  It landed on one of the PVC pipes holding the net over the pond to prevent birds from catching our goldfish.

The owl came without interference from crows and the local bird population in our trees.  The morning remained still and quiet.  The owl was preening himself in the sunshine that was breaking through the tall cedar trees across the creek. He may have been in search of a tree to get a nap.

My husband went on one side of the enclosed pond area and the owl looked at him to see what he was up to while I came from the other direction with camera in hand.  His head swiveled around and he looked at me with curiosity in his big dark eyes.  What?  The two of you?

The owl flew up into the large pine tree but soon returned to his perch on the PVC pipe, all the while keeping an eye on us.  My husband went out to the garden to feed the compost pile and cut some okra. He returned to the house and the owl was still our guest.

The owl returned again on Tuesday morning.  This time, he was accompanied by an assortment of noisy birds, mostly Blue Jays and/or Mocking Birds.  Some dove down on the owl on the PVC pipe.  The owl had now positioned himself directly on the net.  Oh, my gosh!  What if he got himself all tangled up in the net?  I didn't have to worry about him.  He was able to move around rather freely and the net held.

From my viewing area in the summer kitchen, to my horror I noticed the tractor cat running across the yard and directly for the pond area.  She is a small cat and if the owl couldn't get to the fish, maybe a running cat would provide for an interesting hunt and a tasty breakfast.

I rushed out to be with the cat that had to do her business.  Gee, woman!  Cat returned to a cool house and the owl decided to leave and we heard the birds escort him out of their territory.  Quiet was restored but something had to be done with the tall grass even in the mid 90 F degree temperature.

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