Wild Moment

We were blessed last week with a couple visits from Little Al the eastern screech owl.  Give thanks to Mother Nature for this happening with some really rainy weather.

The one day the weather cleared up rather fast come day time and Little Al sat at the entry hole for over 6 hours, from 1 PM until about 7:50 PM when he flew out for the night.  It was fun to see him all day just hanging out, enjoying the warm sun.  It was also interesting how none of the birds bothered him at all.  Was it his being a master of camouflage that kept him going undetected?

Well, until he flew out at last light and then a couple robins went crazy on him (from a safe distance).  Little Al ignored the yelling and had a good preen up in the cedars down back, stretching his wings and cleaning up his feathers.

Then a few days later we had another good soaking which started overnight and continued through the day.  Little Al had his head out early on, which I saw when having my morning coffee.  He disappeared for a while and then reappeared a few hours later.  All was good and quiet when suddenly in came a pair of northern mockingbirds.  

They took notice to him up at the box and these birds went absolutely ballistic on the owl.

Now it's always nice when Little Al is here.  Who wouldn't enjoy having an owl hanging out in their backyard?  Then add these mockingbirds.  We haven't had a mockingbird in the yard since 2017.  Back then we enjoyed one visiting our yard through the fall and winter, feasting on the holly berries, and the bird did this 3 or 4 years in a row.  So, on this day, having a pair was pretty cool.  We never had 2 of them.  Awesome stuff for a nature lover!

It was loud and chaotic out there for about 20 minutes with the birds yelling and strafing Little Al.  I wondered why he did not retreat into the box just to get away from those birds?  Maybe holding the gate was his idea of a best defense?  There was no way he could get attacked except from the front where he could see the birds coming.  I doubt the mockers would go inside the box, but if they did, they could corner Little Al.  Was that his thinking?

Here is some of the action that I captured with my camera while standing on the deck.

Little Al would hiss at the approaching bird(s).

It was non-stop for quite a while.

The ruckus got some of the other bird species all riled up and joined in the shouting at the owl.

Little Al would look down to them all.

I decided to try and disperse the mob by stepping out onto the lawn.  It worked faster than I thought.  Both of the mockingbirds quickly flew to a yard 3 doors over and I did not see them while I was home for another 90 minutes before work.  The sparrows went about their business.  Little Al disappeared into the box about 20 minutes after I went back in the house.

Angie got home later in the afternoon and Little Al was at the entry hole again.  She also saw one mockingbird in the yard but it was doing other things (looking for food, etc) and did not bother the owl.

What a wild moment!  Who needs to turn on the nature channel, eh?