I haven't posted anything since May. I will have to go backwards for a while maybe. June was a very busy month for us. But here is a grandpa's corner that should make us all happy!
A BIRD IN HAND!!!
On a recent Saturday night Nancy and I had just gone to bed. It was just after 10:00
PM. As I lay there something hit me in the head. The first thought I had was that Nancy
had bumped me with her elbow. But, I opened my eyes and saw this winged thing flying
across the room. The wing span was two feet wide. It flew to the wall opposite the bed
and perched on the frame of Sara’s wedding picture. My next thought was that it was a
bat. but it seemed to big to be a bat. It then flew off the photo and landed on a small
lamp on the dresser. I told Nancy that there was something large flying around in the
room. Then I got up and closed the bedroom door so that it would not fly out and
around the house. I turned on the light. There on the lamp was perched a small gray
owl 6-8 inches tall. I could tell it was an owl because of the round head the round
eyes looking at us and the little hooked beak with the feathers ruffled around it.
Nancy left the room to look for her phone so we could take a picture. I thought, “How
can a catch it without hurting it”. I thought about throwing my robe over it, but the robe
is heavy and might hurt the bird and break the lamp. I thought of a towel, but decided
that a towel is too small. I got a sheet and folded it double. Nancy could not find her
phone so there is no picture. (She later found the phone right under the lamp where the
owl was perched). I held the folded sheet up in front of me and walked slowly toward
the bird. The light was still out. I walked right up to the owl and slowly laid the sheet
over the top of it then gathered the sheet at the bottom and lifted the sheet with the owl
inside off the lamp. As I carried it out to the back yard the owl moved a little and made some
clucking type noises but not much. I placed the sheet on the grass and slowly pulled it away.
The owl was freed and flew toward the trees next door in the Call’s back yard.
We wondered how the owl got into the house. The next morning I went into the living
room and saw that the screen in front of the fireplace was partially open and leaning
over. Then I notice that there were several black streaks on the ceiling and walls of the
living room. The mystery was solved! The owl had somehow come or fallen down the
chimney and into the house. As it flew around the house the soot on its wings left the
marks on the walls. We also found one small bird dropping on the back of the leather chair.
The next day in church I told Duane Call Jr, who lives one back yard from us, about the
incident. He told me that there are six Screech owls that live in a tree in his back yard. We hear
them hooting every day. He then said, “Every night before I go to bed I go out on our
back deck and whistle and the six owls fly to the railing on the deck. I talk to them and
even pet them. Last night only five came and I wondered where the other one was.
Now I have the rest of the story!”
We live in a wonderful world, full of beautiful creatures, plants and even people. I am
glad that we had a close encounter with one of those creatures.
Below is a link that shows what a screech owl looks and sounds like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOMCHegQA7A
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