Wednesday 29 June 2011

Get your retaliation in first

Last evening, I enjoyed a late Vimto in the garden as darkness decended. The cat was nearby, hoping for some cheese. A male tawny owl was calling some way off, but the youngsters nearby had not yet woken up.

The cat seemed ill at ease, looking towards an overhanging tree.
Suddenly, there was a loud "weep, weep, weep" from the tree, and the cat ran off across the garden. It was swooped upon by an adult owl, which swatted it with an audible thump, then circled low over the garden a couple of times before landing at the top of a nearby tree, silhouetted against the sky.
After some minutes of standing sentinel, the owl (presumably the mother of the twins) was reassured that the cat had been scared away from her youngsters, and flew off. Soon after, the twins started their familiar wheezing calls.


Elsewhere, another pair of twins (little owls this time) emerge blinking in the bright sunlight, with a parent scanning the fields for food.

8 comments:

Warren Baker said...

good on the tawny :-)

Greenie said...

Steve ,
Sounds like a hoot in the garden last night .
I see the 'fluffy little munchkins' made it to the post , as predicted .

Kingsdowner said...

Fred, I know, it's getting repetitive... the turning of the seasons (I'll try to ration the pics)

Warren, I agree - I have no respect for the cat. No fur flying tonight, by the way.

Flora said...

Trying some html. Bet it doesn't work.
Relaxing in Kingsdown eh?

Kingsdowner said...

Very clever Mel!

ShySongbird said...

I often pop in to see what you are up to and this evening thought it was time to say something :) Owls in the garden, oh my, I would think I'd died and gone to heaven! I must admit to having a little cheer when it saw off the cat.

Also I think an earlier post has solved a mystery for me. I think the slightly different looking red Clover I found recently may have been Zigzag. It seemed to have longer stems than the 'ordinary' red.

Kingsdowner said...

Hi Shy, thanks for stopping by!

The owls dop make me look forward to dusk..... although the cat now spends the evening indoors asleep, so the owl's strategy has presumably worked.

Michele said...

I always love to see your little owls. So sweet.