Critters Encountered with My Camcorder
After seeing a barred owl in the same area several times over the years,
I finally caught him, or her, on video, as seen above. I first heard the owl's
haunting call. Nothing puts a chill down your spine like the unexpected call
of an owl in the woods as night falls. Wow, the exhilaration... this is nature!
Now I've got this owl's number! These images are from video I shot a few
days later in the same place. I know when and where the owl will be, and why.
During in evening the owl comes to a frog-infested little swamp in the woods.
If I had an infrared camera I might be able to capture the owl after dark
when he starts hunting, swooping down on hapless little critters.
As their habitats steadily decrease due to human development, deer
are an increasingly common sight in suburban Maryland parks and yards.
Above are a couple beavers I happened upon as they were swimming in
a flooded creek after heavy rains. They seemed overjoyed with the deluge,
which was probably because the summer of 1999 was the worst drought here
in Maryland since the 1930s. One sees an ever-increasing number of trees
felled by these eager beavers, but this was the only time I ever saw them.
The image above shows two squirrels that weren't as happy about the same
heavy rains that made the beavers so happy. The squirrel inside the unused
birdhouse is keeping dry, while the squirrel on the roof wants in on this
deal too, but there's only room for one and the guy inside knows it.