For the first time in almost a month I am hearing owl song tonight … both begging from the juveniles and one of the parents hooting. It is nice to hear them, and seems to indicate my neighborhood will be part of a territory again for the next mating season. I was actually quite surprised to hear an adult hooting on October 2nd. I went outside and listened for ten minutes! It was most enjoyable. Last year I did not hear owl song till the end of November.

On the Fall Colors front one of my favorite songbirds has come out of the forest … Slate Colored Juncos (now known as Dark Eyed Juncos). I really enjoy all the different color variations between the males and females. It just shows grays and browns are beautiful. With Juncos showing up at my feeder it really indicates winter is coming. In fact, today’s high was 39F. Apparently it snowed about 70 miles from here today … inland from Lake Superior.

Slate Colored Juncos