Walking near the Barbican Centre not too long ago, I found this graffiti on an advertisement for tourism to India. I thought the commentary was funny, but it also cracks me up that someone would bother to write that on the ad -- even if they thought it. People are much sillier sausages than this camel.
Not much of note happened yesterday. It was only last night, as I was preparing for bed, that something blog-worthy occurred. I heard a weird bird sound coming from the patio:
By the time I got out my phone and activated my Merlin bird-identifying app, the bird had moved away from the house. The calls were widely spaced, and I only captured two of them, one faint and one slightly louder. I edited them together and repeated them three times for the clip above, which you'll hear more clearly if you have headphones or earbuds. My Merlin app still can't make an identification, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's a tawny owl.
I've heard tawny owls before on our patio, but usually more loudly and less warbly than the one last night. So who knows.
Couldn't hear an owl, sounds more like barking! I would guess a muntjac but might not be
ReplyDeleteNo muntjacs around here! LOL
DeleteTo me it sounds more like woo-woo-woo-woo
I would love to hear the sound of an owl at night. It is oddly comforting.
ReplyDeleteIt is, and very autumnal!
DeleteI sort of heard it. It sounded like an owl, and they have a larger repartee than tu-whit to-who, which is the tawny owl. They would hunt in towns because of the mice populations.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they're definitely around. When I've heard them in the past their call was more distinctive and typical.
DeleteCould it be a fox?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. Foxes make weird barking, screeching sounds, but this doesn't sound like a mammalian noise.
DeleteIt could have been a ghost you silly sausage!
ReplyDeleteWoooooooooooooo
DeleteSilly sausage is going to be my phrase of the day. You silly sausage! That sure does sound like an owl to me. I hope you figure out precisely what it was. Very cool. And in the city!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good phrase, isn't it? As Thelma said, I think they like cities because of the rodents.
DeleteWhen the dogs are in the backyard at night doing their business, I frequently hear owls. They seem so close too. It is kind of creepy sounding but at the same time it is beautiful sounding if that makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! They DO sound a bit creepy, but also (as JayCee said above) kind of comforting. I don't hear them frequently. In fact it's pretty unusual.
DeleteSounds like a speeded up owl! Interesting stuff in the city. Of course it could be spies making owl sounds to communicate..
ReplyDeleteNow THERE's a thought!
DeleteI never think of owls in the city. How fascinating. Yes, he was a silly sausage!
ReplyDeleteThere's a whole layer of wildlife beneath the obvious human stuff going on in the urban metropolis!
DeleteI love the sound of owls; it strikes me as quite peaceful.
ReplyDeleteI like them too -- the essence of October.
DeleteWe have an occasional similar creature sound off behind our house as well. I have never been able to identify it though some sort of owl cry has crossed my mind. Another thought has been an owl capturing say a rabbit and the rabbit making a distress call. Whatever it is, it only happens maybe a handful of times a year.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time my Merlin app has utterly failed to recognize a bird!
DeleteIt was a ghost owl!
ReplyDeleteVery possible!
DeleteOur owls sound like chimps. Not kidding. They hoot-pant.
ReplyDeleteI have NO idea what bird made those calls. Let us know if you figure it out.
I've never heard the famous Florida chimp-owl! LOL! We used to have horned owls near our place in Pasco, but they sound very stereotypically owl-like.
DeleteIt doesn't sound like the tawny owls we hear. It is rather like a bark.
ReplyDeleteTo me it sounds more like a hoot than a bark. I suspect my recording is just so bad it's hard to make out!
DeleteSilliness is our only saving grace.
ReplyDeleteCould be an owl, probably since it's at night. I would expect to have owls out here but i never see or hear any.
Yeah, the nocturnal sound is a another giveaway.
DeleteDare I say the writer on the camel was referring to himself. Quite endearing when someone isn't afraid of sending themselves up.
ReplyDeleteOne line of your post which struck me: "Not much happened yesterday" Mention that nothing "blog-worthy occurred."
What's blog-worthy? Actual events? Visit to dentist, needle in eye? Run of the mill. Though, of course, both examples within human interest for that neighbour we are supposed to love. However. My dreaded however. Why not just let thought roam? Free style. Write what you actually THINK about or what pops up in your mind [uninvited yet present]. Theories. Ponderings. Wonderings. Wanderings. The abstract. The absurd.
I know it's hard because that way you let others into your innermost. And that takes trust. Which in return lays you open to holes being picked. I am good at picking holes. No doubt one of the reasons I used to be so good at crocheting. Plenty of holes - till the whole comes together, rather beautifully. Gold standard? Venetian lace. HA! I don't see life as a competition. However [here we go again]: I wonder how a piece of Venetian lace vs a spiders web would fare - blown in and with the wind.
Before I go all Scarlett O'Hara (and I couldn't be more different from her),
U
I would be happy to let thought roam, but most mornings I have about half an hour to write, so I can't really wander too much!
DeleteIt's frustrating when you miss an identification.
ReplyDeleteI'm just surprised even the app is stumped.
DeleteThat doesnt sound like any owl I've heard, which means nothing because the only ones I hear are the Great Horned Owls.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did hear in the bush near a farmyard many years ago was what we think was a rabbit being caught. It sounded like a woman screaming. One of your commenters above reminded me of it.
Screech owls DO sound like something being caught and killed. Maybe you heard a screech owl?
DeleteIt does sound like an owl of some kind. I would have been intrigued by that sound too.
ReplyDeleteI only wish I could get some answers on what it is!
DeleteI hear owls that hoot one to the other when they are hunting at night. The sound is duller and deeper than the sound you hear.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that in Florida. Once a pair of owls landed in a pine tree outside my window after hooting to each other. Amazing!
DeleteWe mostly hear Barred owls here and I don't recognize this sound. It sure brought my dog to attention, though!
ReplyDeleteFunny!
DeleteThe comment by Boud above made me think: Have your Russians returned?
ReplyDeleteHa! Maybe I need to write a spy novel?!
DeleteCodex: Aren't you glad you're not a mouse?
ReplyDeleteThank you for teaching me a new insult. Ask a librarian...
Or a graffiti artist!
DeleteI love the sound of owls but don't trust myself to identify most bird calls.
ReplyDeleteI don't either, which is why I got the app. It's never failed me before!
DeleteI now have a new name for my grand-turkeys (grandkids), lol.
ReplyDeleteThey will like "silly sausage." It's so, well, silly.
Delete