Twoo Whit Twoo Woo

This Spotted Eagle Owl is currently residing in our garden.

Our first official day of Spring is today, September 22, which in the Southern Hemisphere is the Springtime Equinox. For the past couple of weeks, we have heard owls hooting in our immediate neighbourhood and, in the last few days, we have been delighted to discover a visitor of our own...a beautiful Spotted Eagle Owl.

To continue reading this post, please click the Read more button below...

 

We have not been able to incontrovertibly identify it as male or female. as there is apparently not much discernible difference. We suspect our visitor is male. The female of the species is apparently the larger of the two, but unless we were to see them side by side, we would have no way of knowing. Although larger than any of the other bird visitors (except the guinea fowl) it is not a big bird. At first, we'd wondered whether it was still a juvenile.

 Spotted Eagle Owls apparently mate for life, but although we hear our owl hooting and an answering call coming from fairly close by, we have not yet seen the second owl (or, that we know of!)

It spends most of the daylight hours sleeping and becomes alert as evening draws in. Here, it rests in the bottlebrush tree on our driveway.

Our owl favours the wetland area of the garden. Here, it is sitting on the brick chimney of our braai (barbeque), literally within reaching distance. It was completely at ease in our presence.

The day was drawing to a close and there was plenty of bird activity in the wetland. During the day, the birds seem completely unperturbed by the owl's presence and they fly all around it going about their activities without fear.

A pair of fledgling pigeons in their now too small nest situated a couple of arms' lengths away from where the owl roosts during the day.

To take these pictures, my husband was standing on a ladder and holding his remote camera attached to the end of a pole. This is a large, densely wooded, weeping bottlebrush on our driveway.

Here is the owl, fast asleep in the same tree as the baby pigeons.

"Oh, please just leave me alone! I need my beauty rest!"

Once evening started to set in, the owl moved into the wetland area of the garden and sat in the small, potted tree I use as my birdfeeding station.

It stayed for a while and then flew into the White Stinkwood tree.

Another evening, happily perched on the braai's chimney as the sun is getting itself ready for bed.

We feel so privileged when an owl comes calling! I know that some people are terribly superstitious about an owl hooting from the roof of ones house, as they believe owls are ominious messengers of death. I am not at all superstitious. I think it's wonderful lying in bed at night listening to their hooting. While some might think their sound is haunting, I find it pacifying knowing that while the world is asleep, these beautiful creatures are keeping an eye on all the things that go bump in the night.