PEAR TREE LOG

pear tree log: I started this blog to keep my younger son, Jonny, in touch with life in Lincolnshire, while he spent a year working in China. That year turned into five! Now he is home and training to become a physics teacher. This is simply a patchwork quilt of some of the things I enjoy - life in rural Lincolnshire, our animals, friends, architecture, books, the gardens, and things of passing interest.



Saturday, 21 July 2012

A Tawny Owl in the Wood, & Bird Poop on My Head

Today was going very nicely - gardening jobs are getting crossed off the list and everywhere is looking much tidier.  

George was fitting shelving into the shed when he heard a Tawny Owl and he very kindly abandoned his tools to come and tell me about it.

The wood was silent by the time I arrived, but I walked in as far as the owl box and stood contemplating it, wondering whether there was an owl inside it.  Something made me look up and there in the tree, about twenty feet off the ground was a huge pair of eyes...they belonged to a Tawny Owl and she/he was calmly looking back at me.
Tawny Owl, image by rspb.org.uk
Unfortunately,  I didn't have my camera with me.  We must have looked at each other for a full minute, before she unhurriedly flew off.  I wonder whether this could be one of the pair who raised the young owlets in our box a couple of years ago ... or, perhaps it is one of the young owls, checking on the old family home.

The white 'V' at the top, middle of the photo
is where the Tawny Owl was perched!
Of course I keep finding myself wandering into the wood to check the trees for owls - we heard her call a short time ago.  Fingers crossed, I shall see her again before too long.  Probably when I am least expecting it.

I took Toby and the two cats for an evening stroll around the wood.  I didn't expect to see the owl, especially as the cats were being energetic and running up and down trees, showing off to each other - but I did keep scanning the tree tops, just in case.

Suddenly, there was a plop on my head as a splat of bird poop landed on target and splattered down my blouse.   Remarkably, in all the time we have owned this place, and during the many thousands of walks I have taken around the wood, this has never happened before.

I stood there in disbelief... and then I started laughing.


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40 comments:

  1. Joanne Noragon21 July 2012 at 20:41

    A big enough plop for a tawny owl, we hope.

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    1. Elaine21 July 2012 at 22:07

      Hello Joanne, Oh, if only! I didn't see the bird responsible, but it was probably a pigeon!

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  2. Molly21 July 2012 at 20:49

    Plop's lucky and makes your hair shine so they say. We used to have a tawny owl perch on one of our buildings - he was lovely and never once plopped on my head. Haven't seen him in ages though.

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    1. Elaine21 July 2012 at 22:09

      Hello Molly, I've just shampooed and dried my hair - very glossy, indeed! They are such beautiful birds, the young ones are so fluffy they look as though they have been knitted!

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  3. Bonnie21 July 2012 at 21:12

    Oh I do hope you see your owl again and get a wonderful picture. Owls are a favorite of mine. I think we have one in the green space behind us, but I have yet to see it....just hear it. Have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. Elaine21 July 2012 at 22:11

      Hello Bonnie, I have been in touch with an owl expert and although they normally only have one brood a year occasionally a pair will have a second brood, so it is possible that the box could be holding a pleasant surprise. I must keep watch at dusk tomorrow, see whether there is any activity.

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  4. John Going Gently21 July 2012 at 21:25

    bird crap.... an occupational hazard on my field!
    nicely written

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    1. Elaine21 July 2012 at 22:14

      Hello John, Isn't that how your 'bosoms' grow? George uses horse poop. Sometimes he mixes it with water and gives the vegetables a liquid feed. They seem to love it.

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  5. Ms Sparrow21 July 2012 at 22:08

    I have heard that it's good luck to be so favored by "bird-do" as my mother used to call it!

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    1. Elaine21 July 2012 at 22:15

      Hello Ms Sparrow, After the initial shock had worn off, and as I was coming back to the house, I did wonder about buying a lottery ticket...

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  6. Jane and Chris21 July 2012 at 22:22

    When I was a bird rehabber I'd be covered in bird poo...happy days!
    Jane x

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  7. Linda Tunnell22 July 2012 at 03:32

    thanks for the laugh! And to see a tawny owl, what an experience! I've only seen two owls in the wild, a snowy owl in Alaska while walking through the woods, and one in our backyard that I'd never have seen if my granddaughter hadn't pointed it out. Both times I was in awe.

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 16:49

      Hello Linda, Poor Toby and the cats thought I was deranged when I burst out laughing. Owls are beautiful birds, I still get a tingle of excitement when I remember looking into those eyes.

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  8. Cro Magnon22 July 2012 at 05:51

    That'll learn yer! I hear Owls here almost every day (probably Barn Owls), but never see them. I MUST put up a nesting box outside our barn.

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 16:50

      Hello Cro, I should have taken a parasol with me. I hope you do build that des res for them, it would be wonderful to follow their progress.

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  9. Linda Starr22 July 2012 at 07:08

    Wonderful you saw the owl, not so wonderful you got a plop; in all the years of my life I have never had that happen, many times when birds fly overhead I look up and my husband Gary is always saying, don't look up. Ha.

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 16:51

      Hello Linda, I have a feeling it was those pesky wood pigeons - I wouldn't mind but they scrounge the hen food and our green vegetables at every opportunity. Such gratitude!

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  10. Meggie22 July 2012 at 11:40

    I have to agree with Ms Sparrow....It is considered "good luck". Do you remember the scene in Under the Tuscan Sun? Diane Lane has made an offer on the villa, and a bird flys over her and "poop" happens. So, consider yourself lucky!

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 16:54

      Hello Meggie, I feel enormously lucky every time I spot the owls, so I can't grumble about the odd bit of bird poop. The tawny owls frequently hunt in and around the wood, so one of these days the chances are that I shall spot them again...my fingers are crossed.

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  11. Green Dragonette22 July 2012 at 13:20

    Its funny but last night as I lay in bed with the windows all open I could hear the owls in our wood and they were so noisy it almost sounded like they were having a party! Occasionally I see them in the falling darkness of an evening-something so magical about them...

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 16:56

      Hello Green Dragonette, They really are magical, I suppose it is partly because they are mostly nocturnal so we rarely get to see them...but also because they are extremely handsome birds. I hope you catch sight of some soon.

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  12. Elna22 July 2012 at 18:07

    Wonderful with an owl looking at you. Have a great evening.

    Hugs
    Elna

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 16:57

      Hello Elna, I was very fortunate to see the owl - he is very handsome.

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  13. Anonymous23 July 2012 at 00:35

    The tawny does look "knitted." Great description. I've seen a barn owl, burrowing owl (in the middle of the fairway on a golf course) and a great horned in the wild. To have one nesting nearby? Can you say "heaven?" I'd go with lucky on the bird poo...

    Janet

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 16:59

      Hello Janet, It would be marvellous if it turned out they are indeed nesting in the box and rearing some young. It was thrilling a couple of years ago when we were allowed to hold the young owlets as they were being ringed and logged.

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  14. Jenny23 July 2012 at 00:40

    So glad you have an owl in your box. I hope you get to see her again- so special to see an owl up close. I'm always nervous when a flock of geese goes overhead that I'll get "dropped" on. So far I've been spared.

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    1. Elaine23 July 2012 at 17:01

      Hello Jenny, Goodness, the thought of goose droppings in the eye, or on the head is pretty scary...they are big birds! I really think a parasol is the order of the day when I go bird watching now. ;)

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  15. Little Blue Mouse23 July 2012 at 18:26

    I would have started laughing too!
    How lovely to see the owl.

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 12:04

      Hello Georgia, It makes me giggle now - my face must have been a picture!

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  16. Mrs Thrifty23 July 2012 at 20:37

    Oh how lovely - the owl that is, not the poop. What a great experience. I hope you get to see her again xx

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 12:05

      Hello Mrs Thrifty, I keep hearing the owls hunting in the wood, one of these evenings I'll be granted the pleasure of sighting them...I hope!

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  17. Pauline Persing23 July 2012 at 22:09

    I enjoy hearing about the Tawny Owls. We don't have them in Ohio. We do have a local park where a great horned owl nests most years. The nest is in a perfect spot for viewing. Every time I look up into the trees looking for birds I tell myself, "Keep your mouth shut." The thought of poop...ugh! but anything to see a special bird.

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 12:07

      Hello Pauline, I must have a read about the great horned owl, how thrilling it would be if you were lucky enough to see them. I can't blame the owls for the poop, I have a feeling it was the wood pigeons. I was very happy to get my hair shampooed and my face washed, but it was a funny experience - in retrospect.

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  18. The Middle Ages23 July 2012 at 23:33

    Brilliant. It's lucky you know! There is something so magical about owls. I've never seen a tawny owl but have had the pleasure of seeing some barn owls in the wild. I sat in the garden tonight listening to an owl in the distance. I hope you see yours again soon x

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 12:10

      Hello The View From the TAble, Aren't barn owls beautiful. I saw one a few weeks ago, quite spectacular and so silent in flight. I keep my eyes on full alert during all my walks. I hope you get to see your owls soon, as well as hear them.

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  19. LindyLouMac24 July 2012 at 17:39

    Brilliant, loads of luck is coming your way!

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    1. Elaine25 July 2012 at 12:10

      Hello LindyLouMac, I just knew I should have bought a lottery ticket!

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  20. A Colorful World29 July 2012 at 04:05

    Your tawny owl is so adorable! How funny that he left a deposit on your head! LindyLouMac suggests loads of good luck because of the deposit....I hope that will be the case!

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    1. Elaine4 August 2012 at 10:56

      Hello Marie, I'm still chuckling about that surprise delivery! I haven't won the lottery since it happened, but my hair is nice and shiny!

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