I went to bed just before midnight last night. It was quiet in Beetley of course, it almost always is. Rare to hear a car pass by after ten, and save the occasional dog bark, you can usually be assured of a noise-free night.
But last night, there was something different, and it took me some time to realise what that was.
It wasn’t raining. There was no sound of relentless rain smacking against the windows like bow waves over a small ship at sea. No endless pattering of falling rain on the flat roof of the extension or the garden furniture, sounding as if five hundred typists were hammering at their machines right outside the bedroom window. After weeks of constant rain disturbing my sleep, the prospect of a rain-free night had me lying in bed smiling.
As I settled down in the dark, two owls began to call to each other. One was close, probably in the oak tree at the front. The second much more distant, perhaps over on Beetley Meadows. It was a pleasant sound, and became soothing after a while.
Given the choice, I would sleep with the owls, rather than the rain.
My dad built a beautiful owl house to encourage owls to nest in his garden. Instead they decided to live in an old box stuck in a tree. He was very disappointed but he still at least gets to hear them.
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Our local owls tend to roost in the big oak trees. Luckily, there are two in my garden.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Nice!
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I like to hear those owls, Jennie. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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A lovely sound. Best to you, Pete.
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Pete, it has been a warm week here and we had CRICKETS chirping at night (BIG LOVE) – and maybe a few frogs singing. This is rather strange. It is supposed to be real cold by now. Strange is the NEW NORMAL… 🙂
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We don’t have crickets here, but I have heard cicadas in Europe. The weather here is also crazy. Warm sun yesterday, torrential rain and 40 mph winds tonight! October is usually cold and clear, nothing feels right.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Snow is coming early. Strange and scary.
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You can’t beat the sound of nature 🙂
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I especially like owls, because you don’t hear much else at night around here.
Cheers, Pete.
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We do have owls here but haven’t heard them since summer ended, my friend!
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They call here when the night is clear. I never hear them when it’s raining.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We have an owl who lives part of the year in one of the trees near us. I look forward to its regular hooting sound. It’s as if all is right with the world of nature when I hear it.
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My feelings exactly.
Thanks, Pete.
Best wishes, Pete.
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A potential recording for people to sleep by., Warmest regards, theo
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It would work for me, Theo.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Lol – I think they had done it only for you, against boring hours without rain, Pete! 😉 Best wishes, Michael
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It would be nice if they had done that, Michael.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I am sure, Pete! They are very intelligent one.
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A calming experience that you could weave into your new serial, Pete.
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Yes indeed. Owls are lovely birds. I never understood why some people are scared to hear them.
Best wishes,Pete.
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How lovely! 🕊
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Thanks, Snap. Listening to them on a clear night just confirms I am really living in the countryside. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love owls! When I was still working as a children’s librarian and Harry Potter was in the height of its popularity, I booked a local wildlife refuge several times to visit with their owls. The kids loved them.
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I love it when they turn their heads all the way round! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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i can sleep well in the sound of rain 🙂 but i haven’t heard an owl so i can’t compare! 🙂 🙂
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It’s a lovely soothing sound, Wilma. 🙂
The rain here batters the bedroom windows, and is very annoying!
Best wishes, Pete.
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(1) Two oak trees were overheard barking at each other:
Quercus, insisting: “Come on, Robur! Let’s pummel Pete’s roof with acorns tonight!”
Robur, annoyed: “Just drop it, Quercus!”
(2) Halloween night, the owls can be heard crying out, “Boo! Hoo!”
(3) The Pattersons don’t mind the rain.
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Is nothing sacred? 🙂
(No reply necessary…)
Best wishes, Pete.
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Just now, I’d settle for that pattering on the roofs for maybe two weeks on end – or even more!
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You can have all my rain, Pit. Please take it!
Best wishes, Pete.
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If we only could manage that! Wouldn’t it be great? We haven’t had any rain for more than two months by now. 😦
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I might be moving in next to you soon! 🙂
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Well, like they say, “Beware of what you wish for!” Nature here really is desperate for rain.
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We’ve had one near us as well Pete…a nice change of pace from the Goose that our neighbor has, who is prone to letting out a long series of honks during the day!
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Geese are as bad as car horns, I agree. But the sound of owls is very pleasant at night.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Agree completely Pete!
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I could imagine those owls although I hadn’t heard one yet. Maybe they are courting?
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Sometimes looking for a mate, but mostly declaring territorial rights, I believe.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We often hear the owls living here tucked in the fringe of the woods. I agree, it is a lovely sound.
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Glad to hear you like it too, Maggie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love owls. Always feel safe when they are around for some reason.
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It’s a comforting sound I think, Darlene.
And they keep the mice down too. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Maybe you feel like this because it rains so much where you are, Pete. I love rain at night when we are lucky enough to get it.
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It has been keeping me awake for weeks, Robbie. Now and again might be quite nice, but we have had too much since mid-September. Owls are much nicer. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Haha, well I guess that’s better than sleeping with the fishes I guess😅😅😂😂
Seriously beautiful animals though, no chance of that ever happening here though as I’m living 12 floors up and not near a very forested area😊
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Nice Godfather reference, Michel. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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You too, eh? I woke up a number of times last night and I heard the same old tune of rain on the awnings. The weatherman keeps telling me tomorrow a dry front will be arriving, but tomorrow never comes.
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After all that time, a night without rain was simply bliss, GP. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Glad you had a rain-free and peaceful night with the owls.
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Thanks, Mary. A night without rain is a complete delight for me. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love hearing owls calling out, never heard one here, but I did almost run one over shortly after moving here, it was slap bang in the middle of the road as I came around a bend. Luckily it managed to fly away as I braked hard. I guess some do live in the wood about a mile away. Used to hear them a lot in Surrey.
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It’s a shame you don’t hear those Cornish owls, Jude. Perhaps you scared them away with your car? 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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My experience of sleeping with Owl is different from yours, Pete! Please check out this post, if you get time. http://fishinthetrees.home.blog/2020/10/16/my-neighbours-mr-jakyll-mr-hyde/
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They were cute little owls, Shaily. I would tolerate the odd screech to have them as neighbours. 🙂
In Europe, they tend to symbolise wisdom, not bad things. They are especially associated with Greece.
‘In Greek mythology, a little owl (Athene noctua) traditionally represents or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology.’
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yeah! Symbolically a lot of things in India are quite different from Greek Mythology, even though a lot of stories are the same.
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Hawww !!! You dint get scared 😳😳😳
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I would never be scared of owls. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie ~ Authors.
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Always so kind of you. 🙂
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: )
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I love listening to the rain at night, or at any time really. Haven’t heard an owl in forever, maybe they don’t live around here!
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So much rain since mid-September, I thought it might drive me into the madhouse! 🙂 Three weeks, day and night, with just one day dry.
We are lucky with owls here. Listening to Tawny Owls at night, and sometimes seeing Barn Owls hunting near dusk.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sounds better than rain… I would swap!
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It rained on and off last night here. I sleep by the patio, and we have a plastic flat roof to keep the clothes line dry, and it makes a racket if it rains heavily. I love owls, so I’ll prefer that, but no chance of it here.
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I never heard an owl in London either. But out here, they are calling most clear nights. It’s a lovely sound, Olga. I am sure you heard it when you still lived in the UK.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I sleep better with rain on my metal roof…..I will admit that the owl in my wooded area is also soothing….chuq
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Rain on a metal roof would drive me insane, chuq!
Best wishes, Pete.
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We’ll be listening to rain tonight.
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It seems rain is usually welcome in Australia, Peggy. I hope that’s the case for you today.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks Pete. We need the rain.
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Rained here and still is. Sigh.
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Showers this morning, but at least it was a peaceful night. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I can never remember if it’s the male that’s the “Twit” and the female that’s “towoo!” 😉 Cheers, Jon.
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I found this online, Jon.
A Tawny Owl never calls “twit twoo”. In fact the “twit” or more accurately “ke-wick” is a Tawny Owl’s contact call and the “twoo” or again more accurately “hoo-hoo-oooo” is the male’s territorial call. Consequently, if you hear “ke-wick hoo-hoo-oooo” it is most likely a male answering a female (or another male).
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for that, Pete; I was under the impression, mistakenly, it would seem, that males & females had different calls, but I can’t remember whence I acquired that pearl of wisdom! I still think though, as in life generally, the females are “to woo”! Cheers, Jon.
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