Swoosh! It was an everyday Wednesday when we stepped onto our back porch to eat breakfast. This morning on the coast, the air teased us with a hint of fall. Yet, we knew the temperature would again soar into the 90s by afternoon. The ruby throated hummingbird repeatedly drank from the porch feeder. Frogs croaked and crickets chirped. It was the start of a very good day.
Suddenly, a large bird swooped from a pine branch down to the ground, capturing our attention. Was it an osprey? A hawk? Maybe a lost pink spoonbill like the one that once landed on the walkway to our dock?
No. As we watched this majestic creature snare a small green snake in the grass, we recognized this reddish brown feathered bird; a great horned owl had joined us for this first meal of the day. While we’ve seen owls fly through the area, we’ve never had one come to stay in our presence before. But stay he did.
Swallowing his catch, he flew back to the same pine branch at eye level with our second story porch and watched us watch him. He blinked. He turned his head to the left, then to the right. And he sat.
We had work to do that day, but we were mesmerized by our unexpected visitor. Then, as abruptly as he had appeared, he flew to the edge of the marsh and caught another snake, much larger this time. He worked his way into a clump of palmettos to savor his feast. Amidst the foliage, we lost sight of him. But for almost an hour, he had entertained us by his mere presence.
We continue to marvel at the wildlife that shares our little space along the coast. When we moved here, we decided that we would live in peace with the creatures that had called this area home long before we arrived. We searched for plants that deer wouldn’t eat. Some of our neighbors, especially after the deer mowed down a bed of day lilies spreading across one lot, have running battles with these Bambi. However while they’ve nibbled at our hydrangeas, knock out roses and ivy and I fear the diseases deer ticks carry, we’ve pretty much lived in harmony.
Also, we’ve watched otters sun in our backyard and alligators use it as a walkway from the salt water to fresh water ponds on the golf course. Plenty of seabirds - gulls, herons, wood storks, osprey - as well as a wide variety of smaller birds -cardinals, blue jays, house finches, redwing black birds - perch and nest in our trees. Dolphins swim into Hickory Creek from Sapelo River and at times, crabs, shrimp, mullet and whiting abound in the waters around our dock. Seemingly, there’s always some living thing to see.
Only the raccoons have proved to be a real nuisance, raiding our grapes long before they ripen, knocking over potted plants in search of food and confiscating our walkway across the marsh as theirs. These masked bandits really aren’t cute to us. Still, the abundance of wildlife here adds to our pleasure in living in the boondocks.
After the owl departed, I had to find out more. Some see the tufted feathers, plumicorns, on his head as horns, thus giving this species its name. Others see the tuffs as ears giving this winged creature catlike features. Add to this image the fact that it can carry more than its own weight in prey as it flies, it has also been dubbed “tiger of the sky,” “tiger of the air,” :or ”tiger of the woods.” As we watched the owl, we even commented on how much it resembled the feral cats roaming the marshes.
According to a variety of fact sheets, owls have “binocular” vision, can hear sounds from ten miles away, but have no sense of smell. While they truly are nocturnal creatures with silent flight, our observation counters the fact that they only hunt at night. Surprising to me, owls, without any sense of smell, are the only known hunters to find skunks a tasty treat. They do not build their own nests, rather choosing to nest in tree cavities, caves or the abandoned nests of other birds. However, they mate for life.
Of course, the owl, with its staring yellow eyes, nocturnal habits, and unique features have intrigued mankind for ages. Early civilizations from Native American to the ancient Greeks viewed this creature as wise, helpful and possessive of powers of prophesy. In England during the Middle Ages, ignorance and fear relegated the imagined powers of this bird to witchcraft. And thus, J. K. Rowling, with her remarkable grasp of folklore throughout history, wove these contrasting points of view about owls into her Harry Potter stories.
Yet as I sat and watched with pleasure our one time visitor, an old proverb haunted me. “A wise old owl sat on an oak; the more he saw, the less he spoke; the less he spoke, the more he heard; Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?”
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