New Neighbors

Ohhhh, my friends, the summer sure is off to an interesting start. I'm lucky enough to have family with property on one of the gorgeous lakes in upstate New York, and I was there over Memorial Day weekend. Guess who the special guests were? A family of Barred Owls. They moved into a hollow nook in one of the tall trees in the yard, and I spent lots of time watching their comings and goings and listening to them hoot and chatter back and forth with each other. To say that I was mesmerized is an understatement. I've never seen them so up close, and watching the parents fly from tree to tree around the property felt a little bit like magic. Their fluffy baby owl would sit for hours watching, waiting, and calling out. This one time, the Mama owl was on a branch in a different tree across the yard, and she would call back to the baby every time the baby screeched. Was she letting the baby know dinner was coming soon? Or just reassuring the baby from a distance that even tho she wasn't right next to them in the tree, she was still there, watching, protecting, doing her job to make sure the baby had everything in place before they took that daring leap out of the tree to start navigating the world on their own. I wish you could have looked into their eyes with me. It felt profound, like they could see right into my soul.