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Oct 26, 2022Liked by Jason McBride

We get barred owls in our neighborhood in S. Ohio in the late summer. Their Who who who-ooo call is so distinctive, and this year for the first time more shouting like sounds mixed in with this, which I interpreted to be mating calls, though I’m not sure if it is their mating season. We also have a multi-generational family of possum that live in the back yard. I think they’re cute, though some don’t agree, and the keep mosquitoes and other insects at bay.

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Owls and possums are such cool creatures. It's like you have the makings of a children's picture book about nighttime right in your backyard!

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Oct 26, 2022Liked by Jason McBride

Love the image of moon and mars eavesdropping!

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Thanks! Ever since I was a little kid, I've always been a sucker for the night sky

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I freaking love this poem. Sharing on my Toby Neal Books fB page!

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Thank you so much! I'm so glad you loved it. Owls are one of the things I love about living in Oregon

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We once got pheasants who decided to hang out in the yard last summer. But alas, my dog Zeke found their incessant peeping intolerable and declared and end to their residency. They've not returned since. Zeke won't allow anything into his little fiefdom but the squirrels and rabbits make visits when he's not around.

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Sounds like a good guard dog! We have wild turkeys around the area where we live. One year a flock decided to have a stop over on the neighbor's roof (these neighbors also happen to be my in-laws). My kids were walking over from their grandparents house, unaware of the turkeys until they took off en masse and flew right over their heads, scaring them to death. It was like a scene from the Hitchcock movie The Birds. I was so happy I got to see it live from my front porch. The kids didn't appreciate my inability to stop laughing, but I'm sure a good therapist will help them with that some day.

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Thanksfir the only trivia! Great haiku and imagery.

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My kids and I learned the owl trivia at the zoo one summer. It made me love owls even more!

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That's really cool!

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Wow, autocorrect much?

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Lovely art and haiku, Jason! We have a few barn owls around. We have many Gambel's Quail here in our little corner of north-central Arizona; road runners, Cooper's Hawks, ravens, some eagles (including Bald), javelina, tarantulas, lizards, cottontail rabbits, coyotes, and the shy bobcats (lynx).

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That's quite the assortment of wildlife!

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i heard an owl in

the black dawn, moments before

your words appeared

(Haiku missing a syllable. Hey it’s early)

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That's beautiful! Most modern English haiku poets have abandoned the strict 5-7-5 format, so your haiku is perfect!

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Lovely haiku, Jason! I really enjoyed it. We see quite a few bald eagles over my way. Many of them like to perch/nest in the high treetops that overlook the Hudson River.

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We have quite a few bald eagles as well closer to Willamette and Columbia rivers. Such majestic creatures

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