We have a new mother-daughter routine. Each night at dusk we watch the barn owls hunt in the field across from our house.
Sometimes we watch from our living room window, other nights we bundle up and sit out in our lawn chairs to take in the view.
I truly feel that this “nature observation activity” is everyday learning at its finest.
Simple, magical, thought-provoking, and so very exciting.
I love that last photo…you captured her wonder brilliantly!
What an awesome sight! Just wondering….is it traumatic to see it swoop down and grab some wriggling screaming little animal and fly off with it?
The owls aren’t carrying any food off (presumably they don’t have owlets in a nest right now). They dive down, catch something, eat it on the ground (we can’t see this part cause they are hiding in the long grass), then fly off to hunt some more.
We do see hawks carry food off pretty regularly (usually snakes dangling — it’s quite a sight!) Neither of us feel particularly upset by it though. Everybody has to eat! (And I feel quite thankful on a regular basis for the hawks, owls, and cats in our neighborhood eating the mice in the field… I don’t want those mice trying to get into my pantry, a very common Sonoma County occurrence! One of the few downsides to country living.)
I love her reactions – priceless!!
OMG!!! How awesome!!! What a gorgeous photo of the owl in flight!! ~ look at his amazing face and tremendous wing span! So so happy they are happily feeding over YOUR field!! — organic! (A large prob these predators face is rodenticide used on their prey.. and they are increasingly threatened as rural barns are torn down.)
The photos of Miss Leyba are just priceless too! Thx for posting!!