Owl Sighting

This is a terrible picture, I know, but I just had to share the Great Owl Sighting that happened today. We were driving on a very busy residential road when Paul yelled out "Look at that! Look at that!" Of course, I didn't want to "look at that" since I was driving and looking at what I was supposed to be looking at. So I said "What did you see?" and was astounded when he pointed out the right side window and said "An Owl! It was an Owl!" Not really believing him, I took a U-turn as soon as it was safe and drove back as slowly as traffic allowed. "There it is!" Paul cried, but of course, I couldn't see it. We were looking across the other lane of traffic and I just didn't see anything. We had to wait at the traffic light and I searched the treeline while Paul said "There it is, Mommy, right there, don't you see it?" I saw lots of things that might be misidentified as an owl, but not an owl. By then, Paul was laughing at me, saying "It's right there in front of you," which, it turned out, was true. Finally, I found it, very close and literally right in front of me. I had looked farther out and up and missed what was right under my nose.

Just then the light turned and we had to drive on. I made another U-turn as soon as I could and we returned slowly, hoping he would still be there. He was! Now that we were in the right lane next to the owl, we could safely pull over and study him. He was only about eight feet away, so we could clearly see his fluffy feathers and watch him turn his head around. He flew a few feet away and then flew back, probably to show off his beautiful wings. We pulled out the cellphone camera to see if we could get any kind of photo and opened up the sun roof so Paul could stand up through it and get a better shot. Meanwhile, scads of car went by us and I prayed we wouldn't get hit while Paul was up there trying to take the photograph! I can't imagine what those other drivers thought we were doing. Paul and I thought for sure that owl would fly away at any moment, but when we finally drove away, he was still there, calmly surveying the scene.

My goodness, what a week for bird sightings. First the hawk and now the owl. Well, I'm a big believe that when two of something happens, they will be followed by a third. I'd better keep the real camera handy!