The pictures were taken in November 2008. I looked out the classroom window at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Much to my amazement and joy I saw two birds. They were vying for the same territory. There was a Cooper’s hawk trying to persuade the long-eared owl to vacate the pine tree by flying near it several times.
But the owl would have none of it. It stood its ground or should I say perched its tree. After about a half an hour of my watching the hawk flew off.
The owl stayed in the tree all afternoon. So I invited some students into the room to see it. They were duly impressed.
At one point in the many times that I came back to the window, I must have startled the owl because it puffed its feathers up so much that it looked like a huge ball. I felt so privileged to have witnessed it.
I was staying late to write report cards which was not an easy task with this wonderful bird sitting just beyond the window.
It continued to sit in the pine tree into the darkness of that winter evening. It was still there when I finally went home too distracted to work.
Marlene Danicki
(Marlene’s school is in the Bathurst and Harbord area of Toronto}