The Owl Chronicles 2021 Begin

Friday, March 19, 2021

The last day of winter.  It seems like overnight the outside world has transformed.  Trees are leafing out and flowering; plants that froze during the winter storm are reviving, sending strong green shoots up through the earth.

Mme. Owl laid her first egg on Friday, March 12, and that is how we know the female screech owl is in the box now.  We waited and wondered, even worried, but she is actually right on time.  Last year the first egg was laid March 10; this year the second egg appeared on Monday, March 15, and the third on Wednesday, March 17.

Mme. Owl huddles over the eggs in a corner of the box; spins around, adjusts herself, still hiding her clutch.  Sometimes she sits up and stretches revealing the eggs.  Perhaps today there will be another.  She leaves the box each night after 8 p.m., so we will see for sure then.

The redbuds are brilliant this year.  In previous years redbuds bloomed in February – even late January – and this year it seemed like they would not bloom at all because of the freeze.  But last week the lavender pink blossoms burst out.  There is a particularly lovely redbud in the neighborhood, perfectly shaped and filled with blossoms.  Every time I walk by I silently praise it.

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– Christine Baleshta