Owls enliven the lulls of January #phenology

A fresh coating of snow brightens the woodlot and sharpens the shadows. Yesterday's storm left us with the lower end of the 3 - 6 inches forecast, but that seems to have been enough to void our mail delivery, unless there actually was no mail for any of the four adults at this address?

Fresh deer tracks crossed the fields today. Where did they come from? Where are they going? Why? Have you ever followed a deer's tracks just out of curiosity?

No new visitors at the feeders to report.  If Summer has its dog days, we think these may be Winter's equivalent. We presume it's only been goldfinches who have consumed about half a tube of niger thistle seeds.Early signs of cabin fever are starting to appear, not because we've been trapped, but due almost entirely to seasonal inertia. We'll try not to judge ourselves too harshly on that front since this is a season of introspection and quietude. Not much is happening in the North Woods.

barred owl in our wood lot

Photo by J. Harrington

We suspect that, somewhere in our nearby woods, a couple of bear cubs are, or will soon be, recent arrivals. We know there's barred owl living somewhere in the neighborhood. The fact that there seem to be several pileated woodpeckers also living around us bodes well for barred owl nesting sites. It's time, or past, for our local owls to begin establishing a territory and start mating behavior. Perhaps some warmer evening soon we'll take a moment or two to stand quietly and listen for any owl calls. At least we won't have to swat mosquitos at this time of year.

                     A Barred Owl

By Richard Wilbur

The warping night air having brought the boom

Of an owl’s voice into her darkened room,

We tell the wakened child that all she heard

Was an odd question from a forest bird,

Asking of us, if rightly listened to,

“Who cooks for you?” and then “Who cooks for you?”

Words, which can make our terrors bravely clear,

Can also thus domesticate a fear,

And send a small child back to sleep at night

Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight

Or dreaming of some small thing in a claw

Borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw.

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