Oh, I know! I could take my cat to Jake's Landing to look for Short-eared Owls, that's what. Yup. You read that right. Mimi, Roxy and I went to Jake's Landing this evening to look for Short-eared Owls. My Fiat was the only car in the parking lot when we arrived so I let Mimi out. Jake's Landing Road winds through woods, then a marsh and ends at a boat ramp. The gravel road and parking lot are surrounded by wet marsh so I let Mimi out of the car while I searched for the owls.
She circled the car. Then she circled it again. Then she started making wider circles to the edge of the grass. I wasn't worried since I knew she couldn't go far so I focused my attention on finding an owl and hopefully getting a photo or two. Every so often I would look around for her. Then, I looked around and couldn't find her. OH CRAP. Connie will never speak to me again if I lose this cat . . . But really, how far could she go? She is 20 years old for God's sake.
It didn't seem that weird - until the other cars came down the road and sent me scrambling to find the cat. I found her all the way at the far edge of the parking lot and only because I heard the jangling of her tags. Imagine what the other drivers thought when they saw this lone woman with binoculars, a camera and a CAT slung over her shoulders. I looked like the crazy cat lady, that's what. Needless to say, the other cars left quickly and I put the cat in the car.
The good news is that I managed to find 3 owls sitting in the marsh and also got to hear 2 calling. The bad news is that none of them ever got closer than this:
And, they only became active after this which rendered my camera useless:
