Day before yesterday,near midday, I set out to do some fall 'clean-up', before real wintery weather arrives(we have been having unbelievably mild, actually beautiful, weather,for this time of year-but I KNOW that's not gonna last....)-took the yard rake, cart, hand hedge shears, and push mower around the front of the house, to rake and pick up empty pinon cones and needles below the large tree by the front door, so I could then mow,and clip the grass around the edges, etc., inside the small, fenced-with portable-panels-my-son- made-me, yard, there. I began to rake, and heard a loud 'rustle' in the row of 4' high juniper shrubs along the rest of the front of the house...stopped, listened--heard nothing more, began to rake again. SUDDENLY, from the shrub row, there just EXPLODED---a huge covey of quail, sailing off to the southeast, across my road and into the huge(and thankfully, so far, empty--no development!)pasture! Bet there were 15-20 scale(or blue)quail, the one occasionally seen, though not common, around here, in that shrubbery....I just stood, in awe--what a WONDERFUL sight(though I felt bad for flushing them out; if I'd had ANY idea they were there, I'd have put the work off for another time....)
As I went back to the work at hand, I heard a couple of the 'resident' ravens fussing in the lone wild juniper tree directly across the road from my house. I looked over--and they were 'hassling' a great horned OWL, who was also sitting in the top of the tree!! I yelled at them(they know I don't really want them hanging around too close here-they soil my horses' waters, seriously, so I holler at them to "GET!"-and they do-though I keep shallow rubber pans of water down out by the arena, as my compromise with them-which they, and about a million other birds, utilize!!)-they flew up, but kept coming back to 'hound' the owl. After a minute or two, the owl took off-and flew directly toward my house, crossing over the west end. I went around the house-and there it was, in my(now virtually leafless)locust tree in the back yard--looking down at my two little dogs who were out there!! The ravens were circling, but keeping their distance-they don't QUITE have the nerve to perch in this particular tree, as it is so close to the house,and where I go in and out. I told that owl that he'd better not even THINK about it, got the dogs inside(they have a dog door), and shut the panel so they couldn't go back out. I then walked back outside, stopped, and stood and talked to that owl, from no more than 12-14' away--and it just sat there, seeming to listen--not a bit scared of me!! When I ran out of things to say, I went back around to the front, and resumed what I'd been doing. As I continued to work, I could hear the ravens muttering in the deciduous tree(there's only three up here by the house-all the rest are pinon or ponderosa pine)on the east side of the house-and sure enough, the owl had flown over there(the tree, an ash, still has more of its leaves), and the ravens were after it again! I bawled them out, and they'd leave, then try to sneak back...the owl just held his ground(I told him I'd feel differently about him if he bothered my little dogs--I have LOTS of near-tame cottontails who live here, too, and though I am fond of them(one seems to have moved into my barn, and is living there, full time...
)-but, I'd rather he hunt cottontails, if he's hunting!) I now wonder if that's why the quail were up here--there isn't a lot of real cover for them around here; maybe they knew the owl was around? I had seen a great horned owl a few times in recent years, at dusk or at night-once, even in my backyard tree, but NEVER in midday-and NEVER, so up close!! It really was a kick, to stand and "visit" with a wild critter, from so close by...just hope it keeps its hunting activities elsewhere!! I did have a 'gut' feeling that this might be a young owl(though it was plenty big!)-but maybe, too 'naive' to be scared of me-or maybe, even 'realizing' I wanted to help him by running off those dratted ravens??The diversion kind of made that hard physical work seem easier, in any case!
Sorry so long, but this was just such an extraordinary experience, I simply HAD to tell about it!!
As I went back to the work at hand, I heard a couple of the 'resident' ravens fussing in the lone wild juniper tree directly across the road from my house. I looked over--and they were 'hassling' a great horned OWL, who was also sitting in the top of the tree!! I yelled at them(they know I don't really want them hanging around too close here-they soil my horses' waters, seriously, so I holler at them to "GET!"-and they do-though I keep shallow rubber pans of water down out by the arena, as my compromise with them-which they, and about a million other birds, utilize!!)-they flew up, but kept coming back to 'hound' the owl. After a minute or two, the owl took off-and flew directly toward my house, crossing over the west end. I went around the house-and there it was, in my(now virtually leafless)locust tree in the back yard--looking down at my two little dogs who were out there!! The ravens were circling, but keeping their distance-they don't QUITE have the nerve to perch in this particular tree, as it is so close to the house,and where I go in and out. I told that owl that he'd better not even THINK about it, got the dogs inside(they have a dog door), and shut the panel so they couldn't go back out. I then walked back outside, stopped, and stood and talked to that owl, from no more than 12-14' away--and it just sat there, seeming to listen--not a bit scared of me!! When I ran out of things to say, I went back around to the front, and resumed what I'd been doing. As I continued to work, I could hear the ravens muttering in the deciduous tree(there's only three up here by the house-all the rest are pinon or ponderosa pine)on the east side of the house-and sure enough, the owl had flown over there(the tree, an ash, still has more of its leaves), and the ravens were after it again! I bawled them out, and they'd leave, then try to sneak back...the owl just held his ground(I told him I'd feel differently about him if he bothered my little dogs--I have LOTS of near-tame cottontails who live here, too, and though I am fond of them(one seems to have moved into my barn, and is living there, full time...
Sorry so long, but this was just such an extraordinary experience, I simply HAD to tell about it!!
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