Rhapsodies

Well I hope everyone had a great Easter. For the most part this was just a typical Sunday for me and I pretty much the usual routine which consisted of going to University Friend’s Meeting and helping out with lite lunch. The good thing about this was that I’ve finally gotten the chance to enjoy the weather. This year (Last year now) I had made a resolution not to wimp out on riding my bicycle everywhere once the weather got bad. This paid off. I’ve saved a fortune on bus fare and I am in better shape than I have been in years. However that did not stop it from being an ordeal. With spring finally coming out in force I’m happy to say I’m finally able to ENJOY my bike rides again.

So once I was done my responsibilities. I decided this was the perfect day to commune with nature and go walk in the  Arboretum..I hadn’t gone for some time and it was worth it. I did the Marsh walk as well as some of the other trails (To be honest I didn’t do that much. In fact I dozed off on a park bench for a half hour) All in all it was quite pleasant.

On the way home I decided to do one of my experiments to avoid some of the more annoying hills. This time it involved cutting through Ravenna Park. Just as I was about to cut off to get to take the trail that would take me to the street I wanted I heard a strange bird call I didn’t recognize. This was followed by a loud hooting. Now obviously this last one was an owl but the call was so clear and loud and in the daytime I briefly thought it might be some of the LARPers, who like to use Ravenna park for their games, doing bird calls. Someone who was passing by said that the Owl had been heard a few times for the last couple of times but no one had seen it. Though it was clear that the local crows new where it was.

I started walking closer to the noise. Trying to see if I could see either one of the birds. The first call I heard turned out to be a Cooper’s Hawk (okay I confess it could have been a Sharp-Shinned I wouldn’t be able to tell the two apart in a police line up.) It appeared to be mobbing the Owl. Finally the Owl appeared. It was a Barred Owl, and a big one and, with it’s feathers fluffed up in a threat display, strangely cute. I’d seen one in a zoo before but for obvious reasons never in the wild.

The hawk finally gave up and flew off. I continued watching the Owl until a Humming Bird showed up and apparently drove the owl off. I went home having definitely gotten my money’s worth for the day.