15 June 2026

Owl Encounter

Pictured above, the Great horned owl fledgling was standing in the middle of the walking trail as we were heading back towards home, shortly after noon today. Georgia spotted the owl and wanted to go visit... this I did not allow. The owl's first reaction was to hop and flutter about five yards further along the trail away from us. It then stopped and turned. I figured we could continue on our way and it would just fly off. But no, there it stopped, spread its wings up and forward to become big (more than two feet across in this pose), and started clicking its beak at us. We continued to approach for a couple more steps while I told the bird it was time to fly off, but this predator was having none of it, and stood its ground. So I took Georgia off to one side, up a sandy slope to another branching trail, and continued homeward from there. 

I thought the bird was an adult based on size, but researching online shows me that this is not a fully grown owl, but a fledgling. Fuzzy "baby" feathers on head, parts of wings and body, and the feathery "horns" haven't made an appearance yet.

And Fireflies

The fireflies put in a kind-of-late entrance this year, a week or 10 days late, probably due to the near-freezing temps a couple of nights in very late May. But a couple of nights ago there were a handful about. Tonight after dark? Dozens. I expect another week or two to peak firefly activity for the season... but I could be wrong.