Vacation for February 12, 2007
The excitement around our house since we got back from Mexico has been the
pair of Great Horned Owls that have taken up residence on the top of our hill
here in San Francisco. Every morning my wife and I walk up to 'check on them.'
Inevitably we're entertained by circling flocks of crows; it's the time of year
when they engage in preposterous acrobatics as they mate. So it was with much
excitement that I read the account of today's vacation, which comes to us courtesy
ecology and evolution PhD candidate David
La Puma: 'I went out early this morning in hopes of testing out our new Sennheiser
ME66 microphone and Marantz PMD670 recorder for our Ornithology class. Here in
Somerset, NJ, the usual birds were singing: Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee,
the occasional White-throated Sparrow. I picked up a Northern Cardinal singing
down the trail a bit, so I walked along in an attempt to get closer. When I rounded
the corner I found the cardinal perched about thirty feet in the scrubby edge
of a cedar stand. As I positioned my microphone I almost immediately saw (and
heard) a Great Horned Owl come bounding out of the top of a red cedar. It had
been perfectly camouflaged, and as it left the tree its weight caused the top
to spring back in the direction of its flight like a catapult, which startled
me and filled me with excitement. I know owls nest on our property because I hear
them throughout the year, but it's rare that I actually get to see one. What followed
was an audio extravaganza, as American Crows who were probably just as startled
as me "mobbed" the owl some distance away... Enjoy!'