A Snowy Visitor

You might have noticed that we had a visitor here the other day if you saw our Wordless Wednesday picture.  I happened to be home sick on Monday after we had yet another snowstorm here that dumped a load of heavy, wet snow on us.  As I sat on the couch resting, I glanced out the window and saw an owl outside not six feet away from me. 

I can only guess that the awning over our window provided much better shelter from the storm than the bare tree branches outside.  I've always known that we had owls around us.  The first summer we were in our house we'd hear them outside quite a bit as they hunted.  Several years ago, I saw our neighbor kids out in front of my house and found that an owl was somehow injured and lying on the ground under one of my trees.  After a call to a local expert, I put on some heavy leather gloves, lifted the owl onto my hand and carried him to the large shrubs in front of our house.  We left him some water and then left him alone, since we were told that too much handling was bad for him and would cause him to be abandoned.  He didn't make it.  I suspect he was somehow injured falling out of the tree.  Perhaps providing shelter for this one for the day makes up for that last failed attempt.

In any event, this small visitor was a welcome sight on an otherwise dreary day.  As you can see, the mighty huntress here was on full alert!  I guess her hunting instincts only kick in when she's outside or possibly she respects the sanctity of another mighty hunter.