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screech owl & the ever-elusive cuckoo
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: screech owl & the ever-elusive cuckoo
- From: "Leah Campbell" <faeriemaiden@hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 12:47:16 -0400
- Cc: catherinec@InfoAve.Net
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
I woke very early this morning (4:30am) to find a blanket of moonlit fog
wrapped around the house. Just couldn't fall back asleep, so I put on my
rainboots (we got a half inch last night -- yippeeee!!!) and headed out into
the misty morning. Nothing but a whippoorwill and a grumpy mockingbird (I
think I woke him in my passing) to be heard. I circled the yard a few times,
hoping to spot a nightjar or some herps (reptiles/amphibians). Finally I
headed toward the pond (about 1/4 mile through the woods). By this time the
Cardinals were chipping, followed shortly thereafter by stuttering summer
tanagers and chattering carolina wrens. After making my way through a
gauntlet of dewy spiderwebs, I found the pond shrouded in gauzy mist. A
slate-colored little blue heron was skulking in the reeds. As the morning
light rose, a hooded warbler sang out, along with several eastern towhees
(making their morning beverage preference known to all). Suddenly I heard a
soft but very distinctive tremolo in the woods behind me. I walked very
slowly towards the sound. A wraith-like black shape flew into a giant white
oak. It wasn't long before I was face to face with a tiny screech owl, less
than fifteen feet away! I stared for nearly twenty minutes, straining my
eyes in the slowly-rising light to see whatever details I could. I finally
saw that it was of the chestnut-colored race. Before enough light could
filter through the oak's great canopy, to my dismay, several wrens and
cardinals moved in to exorcise the tiny ghost. Feeling my presence was no
longer desired either (the wrens continued to scold), I returned to the
house. Making one last circle around the yard to admire the rain's dripping
canvas, I heard the chuckle of a yellow-billed cuckoo. I quickly ran inside
to get my binoculars. However, they were of little use; the "rain crow" only
allowed fleeting glimpses. Just before returning indoors, I got a superb
view of a freshly-showered male tanager in his vermilion robe.
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