- Great Horned Owl
Do you ever go outside on warm days in December?
Daytime temperatures here had reached 68 degrees, so a late afternoon walk seemed like a good idea. Perhaps one of the anglewings would be nectaring on tree sap or soaking up some rays before the weather changed. Mourning Cloaks, Question Marks, and Eastern Commas spend winters in Tennessee as adults and sometimes venture out briefly from their winter shelters, like us. Though the walk was refreshing, no anglewings were spotted today, so I headed for home.
The breeze picked up and the sun went down. Twilight came subtly, quietly, and peacefully. Everything was so hushed, that when the distinctive hoots of the great horned owls filled the air, they were amplified. It sounded like someone was playing recorded bird sounds. Our neighbor, who was turning on the Christmas display in his yard, asked me if I heard the hoots.
A few more hoots, and we located the pair of huge birds perched on top of his 2-story house. He ran inside to tell his wife and children.
©Rita Venable 2011
Photo by Ken Salleng, courtesy of Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary