A Positively Grand Day... A Great Horned Owl Stays For a Day Long Visit

Don't you love it when you wake up on a Saturday morning with a goal in mind for the day and with quick one second look, the entire day changes?  I do.  With a carefully planned work week, I like to go with the flow on weekends.

My plan was to go shopping, do some art and fiddle around the house.  However, when I looked outside my bedroom window at about 10:30 am, I spotted a great horned owl in my gigantic blue spruce tree.  I stood watching the owl for the longest time.  It was interested in my tabby cat that nonchalantly strolled underneath it and plopped itself onto the ground and rolled in the dirt.  I said to him, "Are you crazy? Owls like to use cats as slippers, get out of there!"  The owl enjoyed the show, and fortunately stayed on its roost.  The cat unconcerned, meowed and journeyed around the house to see if it could catch a spring bird for lunch.  Crisis averted.

Being a photographer, I knew I couldn't delay.  I had to get out soon before the owl decided to move on.  My strategic plan of camera attack was on.  I would wear my coat that had the colours of green and brown and would put up my hood to mask the fresh shampoo scent.  I would then sneak out the back door, not slam it, creep towards my garden shed and pretend that I wasn't interested in the owl. Then I would a few steps at a time, and edge my way towards the blue spruce tree in the front yard where the owl was calmly resting.

One step onto a dry leaf, and I was discovered.  I wasn't fooling that owl at all.  It locked eyes with me and watched me creep towards it.  It allowed me to get closer and closer, until I was right under the tree amongst the branches.  I stood there is disbelief.  There was an owl in my tree and it didn't swoop off when I approached and attacked it with my camera.  Click after click, it stayed put.  We played peek a boo for a while, had a staring contest and I told it it was so beautiful and thanked it for visiting.

To not annoy it too much, I backed up and sat on my picnic bench in front of my house.  I sat there in warm spring sun in disbelief.  Two hours had passed and it was still there.

Hour after hour, and camera setting after camera setting, the owl remained.  It was still there at 5:30 when we left for town.

I love owls and the word owl is in my last name!  I am reading Farley Mowat's Owls in the Family to my grade one students.  When ever I read the novel to my students, I seem to have some sort of owl encounter.  Is must be true that  when you through an idea or a question out to the universe, it answers back. There is a great horned owl nesting down the road from us.  All these signs.  We were meant to meet! What a positively grand day!  I still can't believe the owl stayed for a day long visit!