Owl be seeing you, in all the old familiar places
On Two Heel Drive, a local hiking blog I often read, author Tom Mangan polled his readers, asking the question What wildlife have you seen on the trail? Apparently Tom had to take down that poll due to technical difficulties, but it essentially listed a number of animals one might commonly see in the wild if one is out in it to any regular degree. The list included animals such as bear, wolf, coyote, fox, deer, mountain lion, bobcat, and more. With the exception of wolves, I had seen all of them, some more than once.
Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus
Tom hadn’t included owls, though, which brought a response from local hiker/blogger Tom McGuire, author of the gambolin’ man blog. gambolin’ man commented, saying:
A few weeks ago, toward the early evening around 6 pm, I caught a prolonged first-time ever (in the Bay Area) glimpse of a Great Horned Owl flying and then settling to roost for about three minutes on a tree limb, at Briones Reservoir. Luckily, I had my binos handy to zoom in on this wondrous animal. It was quite a sighting!
Has anyone ever spotted one of these guys in the Bay Area Wild before?
Indeed I had, and I immediately felt compelled to write:
I was 9 years old and walking one morning with my 4th-grade class on Cabrillo Avenue in Santa Clara from Bowers Elementary to a concert at Juan Cabrillo Middle School. We all heard a sound coming from a tree lining the edge of Bowers Park and looked up to see a Great Horned Owl - the first owl many of us had ever seen. Fortunately our teacher knew what it was, but in retrospect, its large size - and its eyes - made it unmistakable.
Many years later I saw a Great Horned Owl get hit by a jeep a half-mile ahead of me on the road out of Canyonlands NP. I knew I couldn’t do much about an injured animal in that extremely remote location, but I stopped anyway, put on some gloves, grabbed some newspaper, and removed it from the roadway. As I did this, I saw the light fading from its luminous yellow eyes, and it died right there in my arms. I buried Mr. Owl that evening in camp, but I still keep one of his primaries to remind me of that morning in the Utah desert.
A whole lot of things happen out there in the wild when we’re not looking. Fortunately there are times when we can observe - even participate in - the unforgettable. I, for one, cannot imagine what my life would be like if I couldn’t occasionally catch a glimpse of these moments, for they rank up there as being the great moments of my life.
May you enjoy great moments this weekend.
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May 4th, 2008 05:24
I love the pictures although the owl does look a little scary. In Africa especially in Kenya where i come from the owl was feared and was often believed to be the angel of death. lol
May 5th, 2008 11:28
The Great Horned Owl can certainly look fierce, alright! But he’s got his job to do, same as you or me. As I often will say to folks, the critters that we encounter out there in Nature are more afraid of us humans than we are of them. But it doesn’t hurt to know how to deal with them should the occasion demand it.
I often think it is fear which keeps much of the population from truly discovering the boundless qualities of Nature. Perhaps that’s why I offer my services as a trail guide here at California Wine Hikes - so that I can help people to bridge the gap between their fear and a more valuable understanding of the roles wildlife truly plays on our planet.