[mou] Backyard Great Gray Owl

[Laura Erickson]

Yesterday and today I've had one or two Great Gray Owls hanging around my 
backyard.  This or these birds are quite different from the 
unhealthy-appearing individual that was here on Christmas Eve, which was 
browner.  This one (or maybe two different ones) has had an amazing 
effect--my feeders are suddenly devoid of squirrels--and people who came 
here to see the hummingbird just about all noticed how very many squirrels 
feed in my yard.  Yesterday when the Great Gray sat in an aspen tree, a 
squirrel on the trunk apparently felt trapped--it seemed reluctant to go on 
the ground, where the owl might drop in on him, but couldn't go up because 
that would put him in reach of the talons.  So he stayed on the trunk, 
chattering, for at least 15 minutes.  He got away when some crows started 
divebombing the owl and it flew off.  I did see it drop down at least once 
trying to get a squirrel who got away, but don't know if it's had success 
at that.  Great Gray Owl feet are small compared to Great Horned Owls, but 
their claws are huge and they could dispatch an unwary squirrel.

This is not typical habitat for a Great Gray, and my neighborhood birds, 
having no experience with dealing with such a thing, have all been acting 
unusual--staying away from the feeders altogether when it's about, mobbing 
it, and being more skittish in general.  I saw my first cardinal, Blue Jay, 
and Pine Grosbeaks yesterday when they were mobbing it.  And the funniest 
thing is seeing a dozen chickadees swarming about its head, looking all the 
tinier in comparison.



Laura Erickson
Duluth, MN


Producer, "For the Birds" radio program
<http://www.lauraerickson.com/>


There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of 
birds.  There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of 
nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.

                                 --Rachel Carson