From The Heights. #15 Saturday.

Posted on October 7, 2023 by

16 Comments

Good morning and Happy Saturday everyone! It is cool and cloudy again, plus we had a bit of rain earlier this morning and overnight. With a temperature of only 39F (4C), we could easily have snow flurries but fortunately none appeared, unless it happened overnight. It is actually a little cool inside this morning as well, just might have to turn on the heat soon.

For now I will heat myself with some nice hot coffee. Mmm, there, that is much better. Muffin is already having her morning nap, she was up rather early this morning playing with her toys. And bouncing on the bed a couple of times to try and get me up too. It did not work this time, however, I was just too tired.

Though just starting to change color, this tree still looks beautiful.

Speaking of being tired, a long time back when I was doing owl surveys for the Canadian Wildlife Service, I decided to try going out in October one night to see if I could find any owls in the fall. That is not the usual time to look for them since they are not very vocal in the fall. But I thought they might still respond if I called them.

Unfortunately there were no real warm nights in the forecast, but I dressed warm and out I went. There was a new area I wanted to check and if I was successful then I would return in the spring when I might find even more. I had told Krissy, a friend of mine whom I have mentioned before, that I was going out to look for owls and she wanted to come along again. This would be her third time.

Another maple tree just starting to show its red colors.

Amazing that she has not given up yet. I arrived at 11pm to pick her up and off we went. We drove down an old, and definitely not well used, road. After a couple of km we came to a beaver pond, a new addition to the landscape since I was here last. It also meant the end of the road since the pond flooded the road ahead of us and I did not want to drive through it at night. So we parked on the road and got out.

I called a few times, but no response. I had warned Krissy that it might not be very active this time of year, but she still wanted to come. We started walking around through the trees and up a small hill. From here we could see the whole pond, it was quite large. I called again, still nothing. After an hour of walking we still had not heard even one owl.

We climbed another hill, a little higher than the last one and sat down on a rock overlooking the beaver pond. It was nearly a full moon which was shining on the pond so beautifully. We could even see a beaver swimming around, then another one carrying a branch through the water. We sat there for a while watching and enjoying the beauty while drinking some coffee.

The yellow beauty of an aspen against the blue sky.

Finally we got up to walk around a bit more. We had not gone far when we heard a loud snapping sound. “A bear,” whispered Krissy. “Probably just a deer,” I reassured her. However, we then heard some other sounds which were not from a deer. Then we spotted it coming out from behind some bushes. It was indeed a bear, rather large too. It was about 50 feet away, which was still too close for comfort.

He stopped and began sniffing the air. Obviously he had not seen us yet. It was completely calm that night. Then he stood up on his hind legs, still sniffing the air and facing our direction now. Then he dropped back down and started walking toward us. At about 30 feet away it stopped again, still sniffing. Then it turned and walked away.

This is an old pic of a Great Gray Owl, from around that same time period as this story. Not very good quality, but it was a cheaper camera.

After it was gone Krissy said she had been terrified and did not even want to breathe. I was a bit nervous myself, more so because Krissy was with me. We went back to the car and drove to a different spot. We walked around the area and I was able to get answers from two different owls, one even came flying to a tree close to us, sitting on a nice branch where we could see it very clearly.

It was not a very productive night, but I would say it was still good for fall. Krissy was happy with the time out anyway and I had her back by 7 in time to open the restaurant. We had our breakfast, then her mom came in and told her she could sleep for a while. I think Krissy was happy to hear that. Hmm, it looks like it will be a cool and cloudy day. Time for more coffee. I hope you all have a great weekend and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

Š2023 Steve McLeod.

Category: Adventure, Autumn, Beauty, Birds, Black Bear, Coffee, Country Pleasures, Exploring, Fall, Forest, Friends, Fun, Happiness, Life, Memories, Nature, Photos, Positive, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

16 Comments on “From The Heights. #15 Saturday.”

  1. I imagine you were bearly breathing. When you survey owls, what kinds of questions do you ask them? “How long have you lived in this tree?” “Are you registered to vote?” “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?”

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    • They don’t usually give a hoot about answering questions, but owl ask them anyway.
      Yes, that bear almost took our breath away. Thanks fur the puns!😂😹🐻

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  4. I love this post, Steve! I sense more hope and positivity. And coffee, make sure to also grab a snack, your stomach will thank you 😂☕.

    Krissy sounds like a great person, it’s nice that you’ve found yourself a friend, these are rare. 🤎

    In our last vacation, we traveled to Transfagarasan, a beautiful mountain location in Romania and we also saw bears (you might have just motivated me to write about that, Steve thanks 😅).

    But they weren’t necessarily scary, we saw them coming up to look for food. 🐻 Unfortunately, in Romania the trees were cut down massively and their natural ecosystem is broken down, and there’s a lot of tourism so the noise is bothering them.

    Thanks for sharing and have a blessed Sunday ☺️🙏🌟🍂🐾

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    • Well, as I mentioned in the post, that story happened a long time ago. Krissy was a good friend though, but we lost touch a long time ago too.
      Normally bears are scared of people over here, but when they lose that fear, that is when they can become very dangerous because they are unpredictable. Just a couple weeks ago a couple were killed by a bear here. Earlier this summer 4 hikers were attacked and seriously mauled by a bear but they survived.
      I never used to think much about bears when I would go hiking, but since one charged at me 3 years ago I have been much more nervous about them. I had bear spray that time which scared the bear away.
      Thank you, it was a beautiful day, hope you have a wonderful week ahead!😊😺☕☕🍁🍂

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      • Well, it’s nice that you still have memories together.

        I think that people also facilitate that, since they can be over friendly, feed them or take pictures. At least this is what I saw in some examples.

        But yeah, it’s not something to joke around about since they are wild, unpredictable animals.

        Happy to hear you had a lovely day, have a great, blessed week ahead Steve! ☕🍂🥮

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      • Yes, people are often a problem that way unfortunately. Though here the main problem is the bear population has grown too large for the area so they come into town looking for garbage, especially in the fall when they are trying to put on weight for the winter.
        Have a wonderful day Katherine!😊😺🍁🍂

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