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I must be even more stunned than normal this morning, those Barred Owls just won't let me sleep. We have had Barred Owls here almost all year, but in the last week or so they have launched an impressive campaign to keep me awake. The first time I experienced a withering blast from only a few metres from my bedroom window at 2am, I thought some joker was playing a high powered cd recording on my lawn to give me a heart attack. It sounded like the bird was perched on the end of our balcony, but I suppose it must have been in the big spruce on the lawn. Whichever bird it is, it makes 3 or 4 runs through the entire impressive Barred Owl repertoire, and then I begin to hear answering calls. Both birds move about and the calls come from various directions. After a couple of nights of this, I began to realize that more than two birds were involved. Last night I could clearly distinguish 4 different voices - presumably it is Mama introducing the kids to the neighbourhood. The sessions vary from 5 to 20 minutes before the calls become so faint that I am no longer sure that I am hearing them, and can try to get back to sleep. Last night they turned up at 2:20am, were particularly loud and stayed the full 20 minutes. Just as they were getting very faint, a tribe of racoons broke out in open warfare. It sounded as if at least one of them was being murdered. That's probably wishful thinking). What an incredible racket they make! To make sure that they had done their job right, the owls then returned at 4:30 for a second run through the procedures. They stayed just until the dawn chorus got underway and then the first crow arrived to take over their aggravation duties. I suppose all this is the price you pay for finally having warm enough weather that we can sleep with the windows open. I need a nap! John Belbin - Kingston
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