Who's There?

Bunny here at the keyboard writing about our newest housemate.

When we go out on our hikes, we're always looking around, hoping we'll see some interesting things in nature.  We've run into a few deer and spied some Bald Eagles from a distance, but we really haven't seen too many unusual animals when we've been out and about.  Now it turns out that we have a better chance of spotting wildlife right here at home.

It seems that an owl has taken up residence in our resident bird nest.  A couple of years ago, some robins built a nest in the awning outside our kitchen window.  This fascinates Dad.  He keeps saying he's going to get us a webcam to put out there so we can watch them all the time.  After the robins move out, some wrens take over the nest and hatch their chicks.  Dad enjoys this so much that he won't disturb the nest.  It sits there unoccupied until the next Spring rolls around.

Last year we had an owl visit once in the awning outside the living room during a bad snow storm, but he didn't come back after that.   This year, the owl seems to really like the spot under the awning.  The three days we've seen him there have been really cold, bitter days.  He seems to know we're in here, but it doesn't bother him much.

Now I've been thinking.  You all might know that I consider myself a mighty huntress.  There's nothing that I'm scared of.  That owl is also a mighty hunter.  If I had an owl to hunt with, imagine what we could catch.  That would make us an unstoppable duo.  Those rabbits wouldn't know what hit them.  He's so fast, Mom's been trying to catch a picture of him flying off, but he always gets past her.  The best we've gotten is this short video.


We think he's a Western Screech Owl, but we aren't certain.  Is there anybody out there who knows for sure?  Also, can anybody tell me how to convince him that we should be hunting partners? 

Also, our friend Mayzie is having a commentathon on her blog today to celebrate one year of blogging.  For every comment she gets, her mom will donate twenty five cents to her rescue group.  They're also going to pick one commenter to recieve a matching donation to a rescue group of their choice.  So, please drop in and leave her a comment today!