The Daily Bucket is a place where we can post and exchange our observations about the natural happenings in our neighborhoods. Birds, bugs, blossoms and more - each notation is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the natural patterns that are unwinding around us.
October 18, 2012. Seattle.
About a half hour ago I made my evening pilgrimage down to the garden to pick salad greens for dinner. There wasn't quite enough light left from the day so I carried my little lantern as I picked my way down the back porch stairs. Halfway down there was a scream that stopped me cold. Above me a shadow careened across the sky. Owl shadow. It was gone too quickly, leaving only the hairs on the back of my neck standing tall.
I forgot about salad, remembering only the years I'd spent on the farm down on the Oregon coast. We had a barn, and the barn supported a pair of Barn Owls. Our goats would return to the barn every evening and I would dread going out to milk them because of that sound - the sound of Barn Owls screaming at me when I invaded their territory with my buckets and my little lamp. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up then, too.
Barn Owl Scream, second recording down: Territorial scream or advertising call.
October 18, 2012. One Barn Owl was present in the back yard, a first in 36 years.
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What's happening in your neighborhood? Everyone is welcome to add their sightings to the Bucket. Just let us know where you're located, as close as you are comfortable sharing.
I'll be back in the early afternoon PDT for a bit and again in the evening.