Red-legged partridges and "Little owls"

Alectoris rufa hispanica

Athene noctua, "Little owl"

A tribute to the mochuelo (Little owl) that pooped on me while gardening last week.

Who's been visiting your garden lately?

In a Vase on Monday - Versigny

It's been a while since I participated in Cathy's In a Vase on Monday meme.  My garden has just been too bare.  All of the plants in my garden are 3 years old or younger, and sometimes I just cannot bring myself to collect cuttings from my wee babes.

But, we had a dinner party for my eldest son's 15th (15!!) birthday this weekend, so I threw together a vase (well, actually, a water pitcher) with Versigny and Philadelphus.  Plunk-and-go is still my style of arranging, so please forgive me.

Look who else stopped by for the party!

Happy hunting, my little friend.

(Athene Noctua, "Little Owl")

Whoooo me?

After lunch yesterday, I heard a bird screeching and screeching.  It just went on and on.  Because there are so many birds of prey in the area, many of which are territorial, I figured that either a hawk or an eagle had been injured in a fight.  Funny thing is, even our dog, Cookie, was listening and seemed to be concerned.  So, I grabbed my cell phone and camera and went for a walk around the neighborhood to see what the problem was.

Believe it or not, what I came across was this little guy, a mochuelo (Athene noctua), who of course stopped screaming his head off as soon as he saw me.  According to the English version of Wikipedia, this little owl is actually called... a Little Owl.  (Ha!  How's that for simplicity?!) 

Look!  I'm only 2 bricks tall!

It's hard to believe that such a tiny owl, which can't be more than 8 inches tall, could put up such a racket.

I see you...

All the bird activity definitely keeps Luna entertained, although she also has become more of a scaredy cat, but who could blame her?

Please don't put me outside all alone!