Sleeping With Owls

~ beetleypete

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.

76 thoughts on “Sleeping With Owls”

  3. 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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    1. 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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  5. 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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  12. (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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  19. 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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  20. 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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  22. 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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    1. 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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    1. 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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  27. 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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    1. 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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      1. 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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