I love animals. Always have. It's one of the personality traits that suit me for farming, I guess. I love wildlife too, though, not just the livestock. I love living in an area where I see critters many folks see only on TV or in zoos- in the past week alone, I've caught sight of a bear, bald eagles, deer, turkey and other critters in my travels around the area. It's something I try not to take for granted. In fact, I love the outdoors and am always trying to learn more and to be more knowledgeable about the plants and animals in my home area, so it's usual for me to travel around with my bag of books, a collection of field guides for identifying trees, flowers, birds, reptiles, amphibians, mushrooms, and edible & medicinal plants. But as a farmer, sometimes wildlife sightings are a concern, as many wild things find our birds tasty and predator loss is to some extent an inevitable part of farming on the edge of deep forest like we have here.
Lately I have had a couple encounters with a great horned owl. These are the largest owls in our woods, big enough to be a danger to our birds. Most often we hear them hooting in the woods across the road, it is far less common to actually see one. But a few weeks ago, one was perched on a phone pole next to the farm stand. It was late afternoon, not dusk, but it was a gray, rainy afternoon. It had something peculiar in its mouth, so I ran inside and got binoculars and my camera. The binoculars fogged up and were useless, but I did get a few photos. It turned out that the owl had a black bird's wing in its beak, and while I briefly worried about my ducks, they were accounted for. Crows were cawing & harassing the owl, so it may have been a macabre warning that they were next if they didn't back off.
Lately I have had a couple encounters with a great horned owl. These are the largest owls in our woods, big enough to be a danger to our birds. Most often we hear them hooting in the woods across the road, it is far less common to actually see one. But a few weeks ago, one was perched on a phone pole next to the farm stand. It was late afternoon, not dusk, but it was a gray, rainy afternoon. It had something peculiar in its mouth, so I ran inside and got binoculars and my camera. The binoculars fogged up and were useless, but I did get a few photos. It turned out that the owl had a black bird's wing in its beak, and while I briefly worried about my ducks, they were accounted for. Crows were cawing & harassing the owl, so it may have been a macabre warning that they were next if they didn't back off.
Dan & I were away from the farm overnight Wednesday, and left after chores but before the birds could be latched up for the night. Unfortunately, we had a visit from a predator and I lost one of my hens. I saw the feathers everywhere but did not see the carcass hiding in the tall weeds. I used to get upset and tearful when this happened, but, while I'm not ever happy to lose a bird, it is part of nature's circle, and as a farmer you become as intimately acquainted with death as you do life. It's not that I don't care anymore, but it's also far different than losing a family pet. So I went about my day as usual.
That evening it was time to shut the coop doors and secure the birds for the night. I watch for Gobbles to go inside, he's a pain but also normally the last one to go to bed. It's my cue that I can latch in the crew without forgetting anyone, with the exception of the rooster & turkey hens who prefer to sleep safely in the pine trees. As I walked out, I saw a fairly large brown bird in the weeds. My first thought was "wonder why the turkey hen hasn't gone to bed?". I was just about to talk to it, as I was maybe 6 feet away but just on the other side of the pen fence when the bird looked up at me. The enormous yellow eyes that looked me over were not what I was expecting! Here was the owl, picking at the remains of my hen. Since the trail of feathers started inside the pen, I knew this was not the killer, but I couldn't fault the bird for coming in for an easy meal, either. It was absolutely stunning to be that close to a wild owl. In size, it was about knee high sitting on the ground- they are not small birds! Other certain ID traits were the tufts of feathers on each side of its head, and of course, those yellow eyes.
That evening it was time to shut the coop doors and secure the birds for the night. I watch for Gobbles to go inside, he's a pain but also normally the last one to go to bed. It's my cue that I can latch in the crew without forgetting anyone, with the exception of the rooster & turkey hens who prefer to sleep safely in the pine trees. As I walked out, I saw a fairly large brown bird in the weeds. My first thought was "wonder why the turkey hen hasn't gone to bed?". I was just about to talk to it, as I was maybe 6 feet away but just on the other side of the pen fence when the bird looked up at me. The enormous yellow eyes that looked me over were not what I was expecting! Here was the owl, picking at the remains of my hen. Since the trail of feathers started inside the pen, I knew this was not the killer, but I couldn't fault the bird for coming in for an easy meal, either. It was absolutely stunning to be that close to a wild owl. In size, it was about knee high sitting on the ground- they are not small birds! Other certain ID traits were the tufts of feathers on each side of its head, and of course, those yellow eyes.