Nothing disrupts your plans like a visiting owl

I shouldn’t be too surprised when I see wildlife in my backyard but I certainly was last weekend. It wasn’t so much the who, but the where.

I was walking underneath the deck on my way to mow the yard. The upstairs deck essentially creates a covered patio for my portion of the home. I heard a noise and thought a squirrel was scampering on the deck above. I looked up, then I saw a face with big eyes staring at me.

I jumped and uttered an “aghh.”

Once I realized the face belonged to an owl, my heartbeat slowed down. I don’t generally find owls scary, but unexpected yellow eyes are a little disconcerting.

The little owl was sitting on a beam underneath the deck, safely tucked away. The two large yellow eyes looked intently at me wondering what I was going to do next. So I said “hello” and took some photos and notified other members of the household of our visitor. During this interaction, the owl watched and waited, not flying away, but not appearing injured.

Since the owl didn’t seem bothered by human presence, I decided to finish my yard work. Again, the raptor was unfazed, even when my dog lay down on the patio right underneath it.

I figured if the loud mower doesn’t scare off an owl nothing will, so for the time being we had a guest. That’s when I gave the owl a temporary name, Beamer, because the owl was found on a beam and its yellow eyes were like beams of light.

I attempted to complete the other tasks I had for the day, but I will tell you nothing will derail your plans like having an owl in your backyard. My day was a continuous cycle of completing a task, then spending 20 minutes watching the owl through the window and another 20 minutes learning about the owl.

I found out using the Merlin Bird ID app (a very useful tool) that Beamer was a Western screech owl. According to the app, Western screech owls can be found in a variety of wooded habitats as well as urban areas and parks (obviously).

The coloring of the owls is to help it blend into trees, often in cavities. They blend in so well that they are often completely missed by people. Maybe that’s why Beamer was staring at me, it couldn’t believe a human like myself actually noticed. I didn’t have the heart to tell the owl its camouflage skills didn’t extend to solid beige.

The owls feed on small mammals, birds and insects. A bird feeder sat a few feet away from the owl and was frequently visited by sparrows, doves and squirrels. But Beamer just watched, occasionally following their antics with slow head movements. The birds were entirely unaware of the predator’s presence.

Western screech owls are nocturnal hunters and Beamer must have taken that role seriously. Or perhaps the owl ate well the night before and was unmotivated to get off his perch. Sort of like when you’re on the couch and too tired to get up and get some cheese from the fridge.

The hardest piece of information to pin down on Beamer was whether the owl was a she or a he. Apparently, with Western screech owls, determining gender is all in the call. Males have a higher-pitch call than females, but Beamer remained silent.

I also learned having an owl in your yard can have different meanings, depending on how you phrase your Google search. The practical answer is if an owl shows up in your yard, it likely means it’s nesting nearby as well and that you have a food source for the owl to feed on in the area.

The more figurative answer is that in some cultures, owls represent good luck and positive transformation symbolizing wisdom, intuition and independence. In other cultures, however, owls are omens of death. That one doesn’t make sense to me. How can a cute little ball of fluff be a bad omen? It certainly wasn’t for me.

After a day of research and observation, next thing I know the sky was getting darker. I knew the night owl wouldn’t be sticking around much longer. So I told Beamer goodbye, and good luck hunting.

When I let my dog outside a while later, Beamer was gone. The next morning I looked to see if the owl returned, but didn’t see it. Maybe the owl is around and this time picked a more camouflaged spot. When I let my dog out at night now I often listen for the sound of a Western screech owl, but so far I haven’t heard anything.

While I was a little sad that my home was apparently not good enough for a permanent residence, I was also a little relieved. During my light research I found out that Western screech owls can get aggressive when defending their nests — something I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with 5 feet from my door.

Still, the unexpected visitor provided an opportunity to see wildlife up close without having to hike a mountain to find it. It also provided an excuse (not that I need one) to learn more about the creatures that live next door.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.