Bet you headed straight for Scoopies ?
Tony.
Subject: Sooty Owls
>
> We emerged from our vehicle just after dark, having timed our arrival to
> perfection and, after only about 15 minutes of spotlighting, we were
stopped
> in our tracks by the sound of nearby chirruping trills of what was
> presumably a female Sooty Owl. In hindsight, this may well have been a
call
> soliciting food from the nest site (or prospective nest site). Try as we
> might we could not see a thing. Then came a typical tyto screech from
just
> behind us. We hurried back in the direction of the call to find a Sooty
> Owl, presumably a male, perched on an exposed branch at eye-level less
than
> 20 metres away. He had caught some kind of rodent and continued to
screech
> whilst we watched, totally mesmerised. If that wasn't spectacle enough,
we
> were then treated to the female flying towards the male, flapping
alongside
> his perch and being given the prey. She flew off with her gift and the
male
> screeched on. After a few minutes the male retreated deeper into the
> forest, giving the famous 'bomb' whistle, and then carried on screeching.
> It now began to rain and things quietened, and as we made our way back to
> the car in afterglow, we reflected that we'd been privy to something very
> special. Actually, something absolutely fantastic, exhilarating and
> never-to-be-forgotten!!
>
> I had to concentrate very hard in order to drive us home safely.
>
> Cheers - Trevor.
>
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