Another Visit from the Neighborhood Owl

We had a visit from probably the same owl two years ago in April. At about 2pm on this sunny afternoon, we noticed the owl sitting in the same small maple tree where we had seen him have an interaction with a squirrel before. It looked like he was dosing part of the time. We had been hearing the owl almost daily for the last two or three weeks.

We watched him dose for about 10 minutes, but I needed to put out some bird food so I decided to walk out and see how close I could get to him. This was as close as I could get, but he didn't seem spooked by me, just flew leisurely off into the woods.

Thinking that this was all for this owl encounter, I walked off down the road and then went out of the carport to look at the bird feeders about 5:30. I saw the wide wingspread and saw the owl flying toward the back of the yard - he had been perched in a tree above the feeders. To my surprise, he didn't keep flying, but settled up high in one of the oak trees. He seemed curious about me, so he sat there for quite a while.

The owl and I watched each other for a few minutes, and then I went inside for about 20 minutes. Coming back out close to 6pm I was amazed that he had flown in closer and was sitting on this limb about 40 feet above the bird feeders, quite close to the house.

Seeming quite relaxed and even curious, the owl sat there close to the house for over 20 minutes. I certainly felt blessed to get to see such a dramatic creature closeup.