Whoooo's there?

I was awakened last Sunday morning before dawn to a chorus of owls calling out to each other from the branches of the trees outside our bedroom windows.  Shifting from haunting to almost racous, their individual voices combined and wove together in a rhythmic counterpoint.  Since moving to this neighborhood we've been treated to owl seranades before, but never this close, at a moment so quiet, and for such a duration.  I lay quietly for minutes listening until I could restrain myself no longer.  Quietly I moved to our door and inched it open hoping for a glimpse of nature's neighbors.  Upon hearing my intrusion, one by one the voices silenced as the birds slipped away into the still-darkened sky.  Disappointed that I had hastened the end of nature's reveille, I returned to the warmth of my bed where Brian and I shared our thoughts and impressions about what we had just experienced in the last few minutes. 

Late that afternoon we stopped our activities around the kitchen to listen carefully -- the birds had returned to our trees to offer a reprise of our morning's melody.  We stepped to the windows and in the fading light we saw two of them sitting in an evergreen just 30 feet from where we stood.  We watched them as they called back and forth - first a melodic hooting and then a rhythmic bass reply.  As the performance lengthened we grabbed a camera and from inside our window used a telephoto lens to see them more clearly.  They gazed directly as us and then looked away to continue their conversation.  This happened repeatedly letting us know that they were aware of us and unafraid.  Feeling somehow invited to the party, I quietly stepped out the back door and listened amazed as I took photo after photo of two great horned owls.  Eventually they moved from the shelter of our evergreen to the top of a broken cottonwood and then the peak of our neighbor's home.  During all of this they occasionally looked our way, gazing calmly into the lens of my camera.  As light faded entirely, they took flight and began their nocturnal hunt.  We haven't seen them again this week, but here's hoping they return for an encore. 

You can click here to listen to owls calling - ours sounded like a combination of the pair calling and "Alice".

Our first glimpse...

...there's two!

They're so big!

Great shot.

In plain sight.

Now you're just showing off.

Ready for flight.