Night Moves

On Friday night, I laid in bed reading and waiting to doze off, as it was long past my bedtime, when a muffled noise broke the silence of the frigid night air.  At first, it I didn’t think much of it, since I frequently hear nighttime sounds, such as the freight trains rushing along the nearby tracks and the sparse traffic zooming down the state highway at the end of my street.  However, my ears gradually began to tune in more, diverting my attention from my book, in an attempt to identify the sound.  Suddenly, it clicked; I recognized it.  Owls. 

I don’t recall the last time I heard owls calling in my suburban neighborhood.  Perhaps, this was just the first time that I had really listened.  I dropped my book, threw the covers back, and rifled through my backpack for my mp3 player, which contained audio files of bird calls.  I inserted one ear phone to listen to the owl tracks and attentively listened to the calls outside with the other ear, comparing and trying to match the calls of one of the recorded species to the live individuals just outside my bedroom window.  Oftentimes, I have little success in attempting to identify birds in this manner, as many calls and songs of different species sound quite similar to my untrained ear.  Fortunately, there were only a handful of owl species, from which to choose, and my eyes lit up when a nearly identical track to the outdoor chorus began to play.  Great Horned Owls.

I was ecstatic that, not only was I able to identify them, but I also had the privilege of listening to them.  It reminded me of the nights at the wildlife rehabilitation centre in British Colombia, when a pair of Barred Owls visited another that was recovering and awaiting the day of her release from the confines of her outdoor enclosure.  Their conversations filled the silence of the neighborhood. 

At this time, I clambered down the stairs to get a better look from the French door in the kitchen, which opens out onto the deck in the backyard.  I could only clearly hear one owl calling now.  I scanned the darkness and the shadowed, entangled tree branches for an owl-like shape or even slight movement.  Yet, I didn’t notice anything terribly obvious and my heart sank, as I came to the reality that I was unlikely to spot such a secretive and elusive creature. 

However, I did notice a dark, roundish shape near the top of one of the far trees in the wooded area between my family’s and our neighbors’ property.  I couldn’t be sure if I had also seen this shape during the daylight hours, perhaps a clump of leaves or an old nest.  I opted to close the door and stop letting the heat escape, and instead, continue to listen and observe the suspicious shape from my bedroom window. 

For several more minutes, I sat crouched on my bed, gazing out into the night, when suddenly, the dark shape in the treetop fluttered.  It then swooped down through the branches of the surrounding trees, straight towards the house, before it glided effortlessly to my left and past the side wall, perhaps seeking out the mate, with whom it had been conversing.