Buzzed

Yes, I did get a haircut today, but that’s not what I mean.

Our lovely little gray house guest, the Western Screech-Owl, remains reliable in the box in our big mesquite, where he can be found most days languidly sunning. The view is especially good and especially close from our bedroom window, and now that I have my vision back, I like to stand there eye to eye with the fluffy one, who is obviously aware of the observer but almost never reacts with anything more vigorous than a wink.

This evening I stood in the window watching the owl when suddenly he (we call it a “he,” why I don’t know) opened his eyes wide and half-ducked, half-slid into the box and out of sight. A moment later a female Anna’s Hummingbird shot into the tree and hovered, chipping loud enough to hear through the glass, in front of the entrance. It took a good twenty minutes for poor Mr. Megascops to recover sufficiently to poke his head out again!