This One Will Make You Laugh

I hate to post about the same thing twice in a row, but this is well worth it. After school today I decided to go and see if I could get better looks at the Barred Owl near my house. I showed up and went down to the area it hangs out. I went around the trail part with no luck, so I went to the big group of pines behind some houses that my friend and I had it in yesterday. I heard a weird clicking noise which I concluded was two juncos being angry. I was able to locate the tree it was coming from. I walked under the tree so I could see upwards and sure, enough, a big pair of black eyes attached to an adult Barred Owl were looking back at me. I quickly took some pictures, however, the combination of me being there and the juncos harassing it caused the owl to fly into another tree out of sight. I decided that now was the time to leave, as I didn't want to stress out the owl anymore. As I was leaving, I heard a voice calling to me "YOU THERE! COME HERE!" Scared straight, I walked over to the man, who turned out to be a cop. He angrily asked me "what are you doing??" I nervously said "I'm looking at a Barred Owl..." He then asked, "Are you taking pictures?" I said yes and showed him the shot of the owl. His voice change was unbelievable, all of a sudden he was very nice. He took my information and said "disregard" on his walkie-talkie. I asked if I was in trouble and he said "no you're fine, someone just sent in a complaint, just go somewhere else." I told him I was already on my way out, and went on my way, kind of stunned from the whole thing. For a kid who does not do anything that breaks the law (and I mean nothing...no drinking, smoking, only one other person in the car, etc.), this was pretty terrifying...and the best part was that I had to regain my composure for a college interview at 4:30...

Moral of the story...a camera and binoculars in a suburban wood patch near houses is not a smart move...especially if you're basically pointing them at the houses...would not recommend.

Good birding, and stay on trail for God's sake...don't make my mistake...(that rhymed)

- Mike

The Barred Owl that almost got me arrested...

Those damn birds....

P.S. Check out my new life list page: http://thegoldenplover.blogspot.com/p/aba-life-list.html