McFaul April 6, 2017

album

owl be seeing you

A cringeworthy knock knock joke to begin

A prosaic list of locations that follow

A sorry excuse for a poem

A written record to assist memory in later years.

Owl be seeing you as I remember Florida

Barred owls and burrowing owls in January

Great horned owls in February and March

So many owls everywhere we looked.

The recurrent sightings of nesting great horned owls amazed us

Starting with the Boca Ciega Park horned owlet seen first

Both parents near and close to us when the eagle swooped

We witnessed the female owl bristling and flying to the nest.

In Eagle Lakes Park our neighborhood pair courting at sunset

Silhouettes seen overhead in bare trees as she preened him

Yellow evening light glowing in their yellow eyes

Horned whoo whoo hoots reverberating.

In Philippe Point Park a nest hidden in the resurrection ferns

We observed the parents through the incubation period

Pointing out the owls to the curious in the parking lot

And returned later to see the owlet and paparazzi gathered under.

In John Chesnut Park locating yet another horned owl nest

Pointed out to us as we walked the boardwalk

With just a tail visible extending backwards

So unexpected this revelation of nesting owls.

On Honeymoon Island looking at a horned owlet in a nest

With the female watching us from nearby

Astounded how many horned owls and owlets we have seen

This year we seem to be surrounded.

Driving through St. Augustine Shores

Stopping to check a large nest next to the road

Finding two horned owlets looking out at us

With the female spotted not far away.

Returning north in April to New Jersey Midland Park

Checking the hollow in the dead tree across the McFaul Center pond

Another owlet is there or two or three

And the female must be lurking nearby.

This for sure is the year of the owl

The likes of which we may never see again

Though now we know all these places to look

If we may be there next year to seek them out.

2017 owl album

GTM to St. Augustine Shores March 30, 2017

album

Washington Oaks March 29, 2017

album