March
It is
surely early spring when the great horned owls earnestly have their morning
conversations. They must have awakened me at 3 am, and I lay in bed for an hour
listening to them calling back and forth.
One
must have been just next to the house, on the north side in the small copse of
woods. On occasion we will spot an owl, either great horned or barred, perched
in the mid boughs of the large white pine that dominates just there. The other
sounded farther away, perhaps deep in the lower woods where the access road
bends toward Asnebumskit Pond.
They
had quite a periodic rhythm, with one calling a distinct “hoo, hoo,” followed
by a pause of ten seconds or so. Then, the partner would repeat, followed by an
interval of nearly a minute. This went on for over an hour, and I began to
wonder why their conversation had reached such an impasse that they wouldn’t
change the subject.
Great
horned owls can be easily fooled into returning a call. I’ve gone outside at such
an hour, stood on the porch and called “hoo, hoo” to the woods below. Often
this time of year I will receive a reply. Once I even coaxed an owl to approach
from the woods, calling then moving, calling then moving closer. It must have
stopped at the woods edge at the lower part of the garden beyond the barn. It called
once more and was gone.
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