I think my adrenaline is back to measurable amounts by now because my heart rate is back to non-alarming levels, and my hands aren't shaking any longer. Let me start with yesterday's non-sighting. In the late afternoon yesterday, I did a circuit of the redwoods and saw no owls. Disappointed, yes, but I knew they would leave someday. Anyway, ever hopeful, I did a circuit around 6:30PM today, slowly, carefully, and saw nothing. We had finished dinner and gone inside when I heard the unmistakeable racket of the Orcs, commonly known as Western Scrub Jays. And there were a lot of them. And they were making their racket in the redwoods just above the pool. I raced outside, not bothering to put on shoes and, as I headed up into the redwoods, I realized I needed the tennis balls. The racket was so loud I thought I would scream, but I ran into the other yard, grabbed three tennis balls and raced back to the trees. First thing I saw was a cluster of three baby Screech owls with two jays screaming at them from a distance of about 6 feet. I was instantly enraged and threw a tennis ball at the jays who left in a hurry. The tennis ball ended up in the pool. Then I couldn't decide what to do about the others who were harrassing not only Olive, who was in a tree about 2 feet from me and about 7 feet above the ground, but Oliver who was in a tree just beyond the babies. All five of the owls were looking at me as I nearly went insane trying to protect them from these *&%*#!! jays. I shouted to Ivan and he came out with his camera while I continued to dispatch the jays who finally left. The owls continued to gaze at me, as though they understood that I would never, ever, hurt them. I almost cried at that point because two of the three babies were jammed together next to the trunk and the third was on a branch just under the two. They looked so cute, so frightened - and so vulnerable. I have now declared war on the jays in my yard. Anyway, the long and short of it is that for the first time in recorded history, there were FIVE (5) (V) Western Screech Owls in our yard and within sight, without even needing to turn one's head! Ivan and I have been high-fiving each other for the past 20 minutes!
So, below are a couple of the photos Ivan took after I sent the jays packing.
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| This is Olive |
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| This is Oliver (He has a black mark on his right side that looks like an upside down hockey stick) |
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| The kids |
