Owl be seeing you, in all the old familiar places
Earlier this week 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 the 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.
I later saw a Great Horned Owl get hit by a jeep on the road out of Canyonlands NP. I knew I couldn’t do much about it, but I stopped anyway, put on some gloves, grabbed some newspaper, and removed it from the roadway. I saw the light fading from its luminous yellow eyes, and it died right there in my arms. I buried it that evening in camp, but I still keep one of its 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.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:24 am
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