Boomer, Owl's Hill Reporter
©Margaret Wilburn
Hi Gang!
I am Boomerang, the Great Horned Owl, called "BOOMER" for short. Great Horned Owls are the biggest owls in Tennessee and have huge yellow eyes. A Great Horned Owl long ago was hooting from the big hill across the valley from my home. People began calling that hill, the owl's hill. Personally, I think they should have named it, "The Great Horned Owl's Hill." Wild owls like to live up there.
I live here at Owl's Hill Nature Sanctuary, too, but in a special home. It is on a little hill so I can look down on the other special owl homes here. There are four of them.
You would not believe all the things that go on here at night (and during the day, too) with these other owls.
I am going to use my BLOG to tell you about what really happens at Owl's Hill, like a reporter.
Datelie: Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I, Boomer, have been quite busy trying to keep up with all the Screech Owl Summer Camp Activities. The Screech Owl 4 owlets are here this week and are busy, busy here and there following Native American trail signs and using compasses and meeting all of us owls and BJ and Tangerine. If my reporter's notes are correct, tomorrow the owlets will go in the pond and meet the frogs and then Thursday they will hike up the Great Horned Owl's Hill (all the way to the top!) and then come down and eat hot dogs and play in the sprinklers and eat ice cream sandwiches-woowoo or hoohoo! And speaking of hoohoo Girlfriend has been doing a lot of talking lately, especially in the mornings when the owlets first arrive. She has of course been here for many seasons of summer camps and likes to tell EVERYONE what's going on, especially Thoreau. This is Thoreau's first summer camp year and he has lots of questions.
Usually Saturday is a very quiet day here but there have been birthday parties at Owl's Hill for the last three Saturdays - two of them were Owl Birthday parties, on the 13th for Hank who turned eleven and on the 20th for Joseph who is now 5. And usually Sunday is a very quiet day here, but on June 14th, there was an Ice Cream Social here for all the neighbors and they all came and ate ice cream and were social and one neighbor took nice pictures of all of us owls. And on June 10 there was a Family Summer Nights program and families came and ate their picnics and then they came up to learn about all of us owls and our special stories and then they went on a twilight hike and looked at fireflies and listened to birds and crickets and then that man who likes to pretend he's a Barred Owl did pretend he was a Barred Owl and a real Barred Owl answered him and everyone got very excited.
Back to the summer camp owlets which I, Boomer, have been observing daily. They are doing different things this year because they have a new Playscape play area that has a fort and a giant bird nest and a tepee made from living growing willows. There are also big logs for walking on and pieces of trees for stacking and pine cones for decorating. Sometimes there is brown paper on the fort so the owlets can paint pictures on it. And they have a neat water table and make little boats to sail.
When not observing owlets, I, Boomer have been observing baby everythings. Yes, it's that season again and the bunnies hip-hip under my nice house and the little fawns peer in my windows and the turklets...well, what can you say about turklets. that's a whole separate Blog which I will get to later this week.
Goodnight from I, Boomer.
Dateline: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 "Boomer Reminisces"
Well, it is storming once again and I, Boomer, am crouched behind my weather boards trying to keep my reporters' notes dry and thinking about the best of all bestest days, "Boomer's Birthday Bash." If you weren't here, it was held on Saturday, May 16 from 1-4 pm. And it rained and it thundered and it lightninged but all my guests stayed and everyone said what a wonderful time they had. And I, Boomer, got so many "Happy Birthday, Boomer" cards with owls and mousies on them. And Barbara made me the most beautiful white mousie cake which of course, I, Boomer, couldn't eat but my guests did and they drank lemonade and ate cupcakes.
All my friends helped with the celebration! The pond critters attractively displayed themselves in containers outside the pond - then they went back into the pond after the party. And there was a very interesting program that all the pretty butterflies gave. And the nest box birds showed off their stuff with their boxes and lots of pretty pictures. And even the plants had a food kind of program and the party goers got to taste things made from Owl's' Hill plants. The other owls got lots of attention, too, and were on their very best behavior - even Bobby Orion quit with the mating sound and dance routine and Andromeda didn't hiss at anyone. I, Boomer, felt very proud!
Did I tell you about the posters? Big posters that people put up everywhere with I, Boomer, wearing a party hat and sitting on a birthday cake, telling people about my party. The poster was even on the front page of the newsletter! And then at my birthday party there were Great Horned Owl signs in all different colors by the different programs so people would know where to go - a green owl for the pond, an orange owl for butterflies, a blue owl for nest box birds, a yellow owl for wildflowers and plants, a bright red owl for hikes (yes, my guests had fun hiking in the rain) and a beautiful white owl for OWLS.
It would have been nice to not have had the storms but no owl ever had a better birthday party. THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FROM I, BOOMER!
Everything is very busy at Owl's Hill getting ready for Screech Owl Camp season which starts next Monday, June 1. All the little camper owlets will be here wearing their owl shirts and looking so cute and I, Boomer, will have to pay close attention and take good notes so that I can report to you weekly on their doings. There will be five weeks for the little owlets this summer and three weeks for bigger owl campers. It is always an exciting time. The tractor and bush hog, TRM and the weed-eaters have all been going strong getting all the grounds ready and looking nice and in the process scaring all of us owls and throwing grass and dirt in our nice houses....oh, well, most of us are used to it but Thoreau seems a bit upset. I, Boomer, will have to have another long talk with him.
Goodnight from I, Boomer.