I’ve been working all week on Larkspur’s birthday gifts. I think I will be ready next week, despite the fact that I have yet to even trace the pattern for her birthday dress.
Yesterday, I headed off for my walk a little later than usual. I was hoping to spot the owl that my kids have seen; I had never seen an owl in the wild before. My big boys came tearing down the back field towards me as I headed off, and I told them that they couldn’t come with me. They aren’t quiet. I needed quiet if I was going to see my owl. I made it down into the clearing, where last week I saw the group of red shouldered hawks, but no owl. As I turned to head back up the hill, there it was flying through the trees. It must have been practically on top of me! The owl landed on a high branch and turned its head in that funny owl way and then settled it’s round black eyes on me and just stared. I nearly cried I was so happy. Then like a fool, I started hooting at it. It didn’t hoot back, but simply stared some more before taking off through the trees. I watched it land high in a pine tree. Seth came walking over the ridge so I called him down and pointed out the owl. He commented that yes, it was definitely a barred owl. At this point I decided to take a photo, despite the fact that it was much too far away. One day, I’ll buy a zoom lens. The owl is in the almost dead center of the photo beneath the tire dump, and then I cropped it so you can at least tell that there is an owl there!
Seth and I marveled over the owl for a few minutes and then headed off to walk some more. He suggested we walk over to one of the old homesites. I agreed, because I like to keep tabs on the daffodils that grow there this time of year. The amount of trash surrounding the site is a little bit staggering, but because it’s old it gets elevated above typical trash and becomes “cool stuff.” Yesterday we discovered a pile of rusty tomato cages overgrown in honeysuckle. Seth promised to return with the machete and chop them out for me. An old mattress coil could host peas, or beans in the garden. I bet there will be frog eggs floating in that nasty refrigerator soon. We heard the first spring peepers this week. Hooray for March!
Bethany says
that owl is amazing – he looks huge! i’ve never seen one in the wild before, would love too!
Nadja says
Spring peepers! It’s been snowing all morning here!
okgal says
Nature is wonderful. I tell my grandchildren, you are so blessed to live where there are trees and grass. Creeks are wonderful places to play.
Brenda from Dwyer's Farmhouse says
Isn’t it great to come across old junk? It does become ‘cool stuff’! I came across a pile of old glass jars last fall…what a find. Regular ‘stuff’ used to come in interesting jars of all shapes and sizes…now it’s all plastic containers.
Beautiful owl. So glad you finally got a look at it!
Judy says
My daughter and I had a large owl in the tree in our front yard. We were looking at it and talking about it and we hooted, we thought he was ignoring us, just looking at us, when all of a sudden he raised his wings and spread them out and we jumped a mile in the air.
Robyn says
Elizabeth is right. Wesley the Owl is a great book. We are bldg a house on 11 acres and have heard theowls but not seen them yet. Glad you got to see yours.
Elisabeth says
You NEED to add this book to your reading list if you haven’t already: Wesley the Owl… by Stacy O’Brien. My mother raised a Eurasian Eagle Owl as a child in Europe, and my family is also fascinated by these birds! Amazon link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Wesley-Owl-Remarkable-Love-Story/dp/1416551778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362174490&sr=8-1&keywords=a+girl+and+her+owl
Ginny says
I haven’t read that book, but I gave it to my mom who is a bird lover!!! I’ll have to borrow it from her 🙂 How neat that your mom raised an owl!
margot says
It’s a great book!
Kim says
An owl, how wonderful. I have seen two in the last few months and have so enjoyed it, totally amazing!!!
megan says
So happy you got to see the owl. The hawks you saw were pretty awesome too! I have thought I’ve seen an eagle near our house the same week the last two Octobers, so I have that week marked down in my calender to be outside as much a possible with binoculars. The nearest nest to us is about 60 miles away, so it seems unlikely it really is a eagle but I would love to solve the mystery.
I’m knitting a shawl in the same yarn as Larkspur’s gift. It is so beautiful! Have a really nice weekend!
Nahuatl Vargas says
How exciting!, yesterday I went to pick up my son from school and I saw a woodpecker, I think it was a male black-cheecked woodpecker, so nice to see birds on the wild, isn’t?
violicous says
owls are magic! i saw one in the wild for the first time a few months ago. we were in downtown toronto and a barred owl just hung out by a gaggle of giggling children for about 20minutes. i was clearly more impressed than the children or the owl.
also i grew up in a farm town in illinois and the best plaything at the park was a structure made of bolted together tires.
Amanda says
That second photo…what yummy fabric and ribbon! Totally makes me want to sew today.
tara says
Please don’t ever quit blogging because I love the peek into your gorgeous, beautiful world!
Leigh says
We had an owl in the tree outside our bedroom the other morning. It was being harassed by two crows. It eventually flew off. Hope it was okay.
meghan says
oh, spring peepers…thanks for the reminder! It will be awhile before we hear them here but I’m looking forward to it now. I can’t wait to see that birthday dress.
Kate says
Ah how exciting you got to see the owl!! We saw a hawk in our neighbors yard yesterday. We live in the middle of the city so it was really amazing. I love seeing all the daffodils bloom, they’ve started here too.
beth lehman says
ack!!! so great to see this magnificent owl!! we saw one this summer while biking and i had my camera!! so exciting. we have called up screech owls many times, which is so fun to do. i think owls are the first to begin finding mates… i’ll have to check my bird behavior guides (bird nerd, yes?!) we heard an unsual (to us) frog the other day in the woods…. so yay, spring is coming!! (and that trash outside is positively photogenic!!)
Bronwyn says
I am so excited for you to have an owl nearby. We had a family of barred owls that lived behind our house for several years when we lived in North Carolina. They seem to pick a nesting spot and return each year. We spent hours watching them. They are amazing creatures! So powerful and observant!
Briana (justamouse) says
Peepers! Daffodils! Such hope you give us!
Abigail says
That was my same thought at the sight of the mattress wire….”a trellis!” of course I also thought “potato towers” at sight of the tires…gardening in a small space with a small income is definitely on my mind! 🙂
Ginny says
I have been thinking the same thing about those tires…it’s a shame they are just spread all over that area of the woods, looking junky, of no use. I wonder how much I’d need to pay my boys to drag them home?
Betsy says
I’m so happy you finally saw your owl! I miss having my little people take walks with me, but they’re all grown and gone now. I do remember longing for quiet though. Now I long for chatter and crunching footsteps! Happy Friday Ginny!
Blessings,
Betsy
Ginny says
I usually let them come with me! I confess though, I got a little obsessed with wanting to see that owl!
Sara McD says
GINNY! I used the same title on my yarn along link this week! 🙂 Maybe it should be a weekly theme.
Sara McD says
and OH! and owl! So cool. I would have hooted too.
Ginny says
!! It’s a good theme, isn’t it? Especially as the weather warms up.
a little crafty nest says
Owls are everywhere right now, funny that! Lori had a spiritual encounter on her hike and my family has a pair of pygmies nesting by our chicken coop that I wrote about just today! We have barred owls, too, and they are hooting so much at night just now…I love their mysterious, lonely calls at night. Your peaceful daily walks are so inspiring…one day my children will be old enought that I may, too, enjoy them again. Enjoy your weekend, Ginny!
xo Jules
Dawn says
I am always fascinated by owls, bald eagles and hawks. We see them often where I live but the other day as I was bringing the kids home from school we saw a bald eagle sitting on the side of our lane. He was eating something but looked so beautiful and regal sitting there. I slowed the truck so we could all get a look at him up close. He just stared at us as if he wasn’t afraid, he seemed to know us.
Heather says
I love how the ordinary trash becomes treasure. So many items that can be used if you get imaginative. Love that you saw your owl.
Andee says
Oh how exciting you got to see an owl. I search constantly for them. On Tuesday as I was cleaning up in the alpaca fields one was hooting the entire time. I stood like a dummy by the trees staring up at the tree saying aloud I know you’re up there. My hunt continues.