My New Owl Friend

  Most every morning Hazel and I get in a hike/swim to start the day. I hike and she swims! We're on the "summer" schedule right now. That means we get up around 5:30-6am, I feed the cats, then Hazel and I jump in the car to go hike and swim. Coffee and breakfast have to wait as it's more important to get out while it's still cool out. 

So this morning I got to the north end of the rez around 6:30am. My friend Ingrid and her dogs arrived soon after. So we headed out to enjoy the cool morning air. There are a few trails to walk on, so we chose the one right next to the water so the doggies could swim.

We were chatting with each other when we spotted a great horned owl just a few feet away! What???? We both stopped dead in our tracks to admire him. I fully expected him to fly off but he just sat there looking at us. He was barely 2 feet off the ground and looked quite comfortable. Ingrid knows I love GHO and have my owl friends over at Twin Lakes. So she asked is it normal for them to sit so low to the ground? I replied I had only seen that once and it was Sonny over at Twin Lakes. 

Then it dawned on me that this must be one of their off spring and he was just like his dad!! He looked pretty young so maybe he was from last year's batch or the year before that. Either way I was completely convinced that Sonny and Cher were his parents. He was very calm and seemed quite comfortable with us which is how his parents are! Plus their nest gets quite a bit of attention each year from the photographers, so they get to see lots of humans. 

And as I watched him, I felt a familiarity with him that I do not normally feel when I meet other owls. And yes, owls do have good memories and do recognize humans they know.

Finally Ingrid and I pulled ourselves away after thanking him for sharing his beauty with us!

We continued on our hike for a bit but I could not get him out of my mind. Finally I said to Ingrid that I had to go home, get the camera and hopefully make it back to get some pics. So Hazel and I ran back to the car, drove home and back with my camera in record time! I figured it was worth the gamble and it paid off! There he was chilling away. Sweet! I said hello and started taking pics. I circled around him to get the best angle I could. As I was taking pics, 2 gals and their dogs walked within 6 feet of him and never noticed him. And a few runners ran by me and never stopped to see what I was taking pics of......

Wow! Wow! Wow! What a magical morning that was! Hazel and I have walked that trail hundreds of times and have never seen something as amazing as this! Guess I will be bringing my camera from now on........

Thanks for reading!