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")

Birthday Surprise

My birthday was not long ago (happy birthday to me!), and I had a very unique birthday surprise.  As I was walking through the town square, there were 5 local "townies" looking up into the large, 300-year-old elm tree that grows there next to the town church.  

Now, the old ulmus minor is a tourist attraction itself, partly because it is so large, and partly because the base is hollow and children love hiding inside.  Many a family photo is taken there, especially when it is First Communion season (we've had several taken there ourselves).  But, when the locals start taking a second glance, you know something is up...

And, up they were!  Waaaaaay up, some 40 feet in the air, were a pair of tawny owls (Strix aluco), fast asleep.

It's amazing how much their feathers look like tree bark.

Doesn't he just look perfectly blissful?

Later on, just before dusk, I went by again to see if they had awaken.  Sure enough, they had.

By the way, what looks to be a tree trunk to the bottom left of this photo is actually the abdomen of the other owl!

If you would like to check out our town's ancient field elm tree, I found a video about it on YouTube made by a British tourist.  Funny.  The video shows it in the winter with no leaves and after a recent pruning, but you can see how hollow it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNr0BK4IgbI

You might also like my post from earlier this year about Little Owls, Whoooo Me?

Any owls or ancient trees in your neck of the woods?

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!