Big Mistake

Went for some exercise today and thought, "I'll keep my camera in my bag because I probably won't see anything new and I don't want to be stopping constantly for photos". Big mistake. Half way through the hike, an owl flew right past me and landed on a stump. I stopped, breathless, and made no moves. A little time passed and I moved slowly a few steps to a spot that would be good for a photo, if only I had my camera out. There was such a noise of dripping rain and chirping birds that it appeared not to hear me. Every time it looked at me, I froze. Slowly, I opened my bag and brought the camera out, but knew I could not get my glasses out without a lot more fuss. I couldn't believe my luck when I started taking photos and the owl stayed put. Without my glasses, however, I could not see the viewer properly. Something looked amiss. This photos seemed too, too underexposed. Then, to my terrible dismay, I saw that one of the settings was off. "Dang!", I thought. I quickly reset it, repositioned the camera for a shot................, and, you guessed it..........., the owl had flown the coop, so to speak.

I took a photo of the now owl-less stump, so I could show people what I missed. Some sort of dark humour, I guess. But the woods were so beautiful that I stayed in that spot for a while. Then I heard an odd noise in the forest that sounded a bit like a cross between a baby deer and a cat. Hmmmm. Wondered what that was. I kept hearing it, so I waded through the low bushes and ferns toward it. Suddenly, an owl flew up off the forest floor and into a tree. Wow. It was the same owl. I took some photos, but really could not get a focus on it in the branches. As I waited around, hoping for a better shot, the owl attacked a robin's nest. The robins were so upset, dive-bombing and chirping loudly. I found it unsettling, so I left for the rest of my walk.

So today, you either get a blip of an owl-less stump, or a highly edited and creepy looking image of a forest with an owl on a stump. I decided on the latter. If you look carefully, you can see his two eyes (as two white spots) staring at you from the center of the photo.

I think it was a Long Eared Owl, from it's appearance and the noise it made on the ground. My bird book describes one of the calls as "a cat-like whine". That sound like my bird, all right.

From now on, I will always have my camera out. And my glasses.