Mr. Owl

The first clue was a couple of days ago. There was fresh owl scat on the brick walkway under the big gum (eucalyptus) tree. Then very early this morning, in the dark, the hoot of an owl.

Around sunrise this morning, I heard an odd, repeated cry. I went in back and two birds flew out of the pine tree. One appeared to be an oversized dove. It was the one making the noise. The other was a large owl.

Both settled in the gum tree, the large dove warning its fellows about the predator. The owl settled on a hidden branch, exactly above the spot where I had found its scat.

I hope it feeds greedily on the little nocturnal rodents. But I wish it would attend to its nature elsewhere.