A quick review of birding social media pages in Victoria, Australia, will bring lots of hits for one of the latest ‘must see, must have’ birds in our area.
Several months ago, a Barking Owl, began its ‘woof woof’ calls along the banks of the Werribee River.
Like all media senstations, what began as a trickle quickly escalated into a flood of postings and every birder and photographer worth their “Hits Record” began the, as Pooh would say, “Expotition” to find the Owl.
Unlike Owl, in the Pooh stories, this one did not have a notice at the door. For those who have forgotten (how could you!) , here are the notices from “Winnie the Pooh (1926)
two notices (which were written by Christopher Robin):"PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD", and "PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQIRD"
You might also recall that the cord for the bell-ringer was in fact Eyore’s tail. But that is another blog.
Owl also lived in a tree, “He lives in a tree known as The Chestnuts,” described as an “old world residence of great charm”, and spells his name, “Wol”
And there any similarities between Pooh’s friend and THE Owl end.
Referred to by those who know, or wish to know, or are searching for, as “THE” Owl, as in ‘Have you seen THE owl”, or, “THE Owl is on the tree by the ford.” Or, “Here are 47 of my photos, taken with my new Cannikony with the 200-3,400 zoom lens at 64000 ISO and processed from a ‘raw’ file in the latest CapShop software using a LUT designed by little eleves in a forest of the wol.
3,590 hits and counting. “
EE and I had generally left the owl in peace since its arrival. And as EE had thrown a fetlock, we had been spending less and less time in the area, until finally surgery brought our adventures to a stand still (pun sort of intended)
So being cognisant that I’m going to add to the internest incest of “THE Owl” here are a few from the past few months.
Enjoy
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST 
Fabulous images of the Barking Owl, David! Great to view!
I never did get a chance to go have a look!
It is a case of once word gets out everyone seems to want to tick it off the list.
The same has happened with the recent arrival of the House Crow, I met a bloke in the wetlands the other day who took delight in showing me his images of said crow. He was in a group playing Frisbee Golf at the time.
It is great that EE is up and about again.
Dave N
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Hi David,
Thanks for dropping by and commenting. Adds to my day.
I once had someone show me their fone image of 3 young falcons, “just down there on the corner.” Stupidly I went down to look.
I realised much later that the pic had been made months, many months before and he hadn’t bothered to add that bit of data. 🙂
Gotta smile and wave.
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What lovely images David. I particularly like the wink it is giving you in the third last image. No doubt it could find a different place to roost when it got sick of all the crowds going to see it.
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HI Eleanor, I agree it is such a great moment.
But has its own little story.
When we first arrived THE wol had its eyes closed. Just as we were leaving a photographer turned up and began to unfold their tripod, and as every photographer knows when you loosen to the legs to extend, they slide down and hit the bottom with a loud metallic “Clang” The Owl startled and then opened the one eye.
It watched intently the setup of the rest of the gear, and by then both eyes were open, as in, “Ohh, haven’t seen a 200-800mm zoom lens all day!”.
Its next reaction was the last image of the big grappling irons reaching out. Make of that what you will
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Thanks Dave, fabulous images, glad to hear ee is standing. I’m in the NT for a bit longer and had the pleasure of what I thought was one, no two adults but then three and # 4 chicks became visible. I was house sitting a property in Batchelor with an Irish wolf hound. A memorable time. Alas a broken camera so no favorable images.
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Ahh, good to be travelling, but not so good to have a camera down. Hope that you are able to get it all going again.
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Amazing captures David and what an opportunity to see the Barking Ow; in the ‘wild’. We have only seen it at raptor shows and it really does bark like a small dog. It certainly went viral among birders THE Owl. Usually when a local says ‘have you seen THE Owl in our local park, they actually mean Tawny Frogmouth, and then I proceed to explain why it is a Frogmouth and not an owl. During the winter months THE owl is the Powerful Owl in nesting mode or the Southern Boobook. We are glad that EE is more mobile again, it is so frustrating when you can’t get around. Enjoy your week and your new year my friend.
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Hi Ashley, The first week or so, I really did think it was a dog that was on the local farm. (I’ve seen a dog there before), but in the end, I did have to go have a looksee.
When I was a very little tacker and on a farm, my Dad would take us, with a torch, looking for Boobooks. I’ve a warm spot for their call to this day, partly because of the thrill of looking in the dark, and partly because my Dad would take us.
At first I was hoping that there were two Wols and we might have a resident pair, but unless the other one is a long way up or down the river, no such luck.
There is quite a family of Barn Owls in the zoo precinct on the far side of the river, so it might think its in good company.
Best to you and yours for the new year
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