Mysterious night garden
Datura metel
Late last night, I opened the front door to water a wilted plant on the porch and heard a mysterious rustling. Peering into the shadows I spotted the armadillo that’s been digging under my fence nearly every night to dig up my new plants in his search for grubs and worms. I ran for the flashlight and returned to chase him off, but I caught only a glimpse of his tail disappearing around the corner of the house, and then he was gone. Off to rampage in someone else’s garden, or looking for another way under my fence? It’s a mystery until the morning light reveals the answer.
Deciding to check on the security of my fence, which I’ve lined here and there with stones to block digging access, I heard a strange whinnying sound in the trees. Wondering what kind of animal it could be, I shined my flashlight up but saw nothing. It suddenly occurred to me that it was a screech owl. Is a pair nesting in the owl box at last? (The squatter squirrel seems to have moved out.) Another mystery. Later I confirmed that it was a screech owl I heard by listening to a screech owl’s call on the Internet. That’s exactly what I heard. Isn’t the Internet grand?
Wondering about the owl but satisfied that the armadillo was not currently uprooting my garden, I turned to go back inside but stopped short when I noticed the trumpet-shaped blooms of the Datura metel glowing in the flashlight’s beam. It seemed worth the trouble to get out my tripod and set up a shot that reflects the mysterious nature of the garden at night, under a full moon.
Are there any nightly mysteries occurring in your garden?
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I am not sure but your post has given me the encouragement to get out there tonight in that full moon light to see what is skulking around the garden. Beautiful shot of the moonflower. Well worth the effort. I hope the dasterdly armadillo finds another garden to raid in the future.
I hope you do some full-moon exploring tonight, Lisa. I found it to be quite interesting. As for the flower, I wish I were growing moonflower this year, but this is actually a datura blossom, grown from seeds that Fairegarden Frances sent me. —Pam
Your bloom is wonderful — almost ghostly. 🙂 That’s an experiment I may try myself!
Lots of night time critters! Armadillos will make a mess.
Gorgeous!
Beautiful photo, Pam–that datura bloom looks like it’s glowing from within!
It is, thanks to the flashlight I was shining on it from underneath! —Pam
I enjoyed your post! I love looking at your site because there is always something new and different that you have posted. Beautiful photo :).
Excellent photo worth the effort
I have seen a barred owl in my garden once but I do wish I could see a screech owl. I know they are out there somewhere. I like your night shot of the datura.
Donna
Pam, Last night I woke up with a start…and wandered around the house looking at the moon; it’s light illuminated everything in the gardens. I thought…the moon shouted out loud to wake me up! It was magical. Your datura shot is beautiful….Right now the moonflower vine is blooming on and off. gail
Moonflower is perfect for a full-moon night, Gail. I hope you drank in its fragrance last night as you looked at the moon. —Pam
I woke up at 3am the other night and I swear I heard a great horned owl call. I know this because I got on my computer and went to the What Bird website and played EVERY owl call to try and match it up. I hope I was right in that we have an owl. I would love to have one and have the kids hear it late at night. They keep longingly staring at the owl house which remains empty.
We frequently hear the great-horned owl’s distinctive “hoot hoot” call. We twice spotted one at our old house, and they are BIG. One of those wouldn’t fit in the owl box my DH made for me. It’s sized for a little screech owl. Like you, I hope our owl box finds a tenant soon. —Pam
You’re so lucky to have such wildlife in your neighborhood! All I have is a possum that eats my watermelons 🙁
Oh, that’s frustrating. I bet you have more wildlife than you think in your garden though. There are many night creatures, large and small. —Pam
Beautiful picture and story! Yes, last night we heard a frog, and I also hunted up the call to check if it was a native (it’s possible it was a cane toad, ick! but it sounded like a native). Oh, and when my husband was getting ready for bed he had to evict a healthy-looking huntsman spider from the hallway! It was only about 3 inches across — yes, they do get bigger than that!
Yowsa, that’s a big spider! There are tarantulas in this part of Austin, but I’ve yet to see one in my garden. I hope not to! —Pam
When I was a Girl Scout at the age of twelve or so we used to look for the owl pellets that would be below the trees where the owls would sit. Again when I was teaching Outdoor School at Penn State I kept an eye out for them. Never did I get to find one myself. Four or five years ago we invited man to bring his Owl to visit our Junior Garden Club meeting in Valdosta, GA. As he was giving his talk about caring for this beautiful bird it tossed up his pellet right there in our classroom. What a treat, I can’t tell you how excited I was and the kids had no clue how special it was to see. The pellet had a the skeleton of a mouse in it, we knew what it had eaten last. It only took about fifty years for it to happen but I found one!
That does sound like an exciting event to witness. Thanks for sharing the story, LU. —Pam
Wow — what a shot!
Lovely! I love the night garden and now we have katydids and grasshoppers creating great sounds… I love the moon shadows in the garden. Carol
Oh. My. God. I stumbled onto your site when I googled “Owls in San Antonio,” and I feel like I’ve met a long-lost friend. Your photo of the Datura is beyond enchanting. I purchased two small specimens many years ago, planted them and had no success whatsoever. While I can pretty much get everything else to flourish in my ‘private forest’ I will once again have to try the Datura. Thank you for inspiring me.
I almost ripped my front door off in excitement the other night, trying to get back in excitedly to tell my daughter, that ‘the owl is back, the owl is back!’ I’ve been so sad waiting and waiting to hear the ‘who-whooo’ ‘who-whooo’ of seasons past. I immediately jumped back outside and began calling out to the owl, which normally will answer my call-backs. But this recent time, I was simply too excited, too loud and wasn’t capable of making the softest ‘who-whooo’ necessary to get the owl to answer me back repeatedly. The owl answered at first, but my breathy, loud, overly excited calls finally were met with silence. That was two nights ago–last night…no owl.
Seasons past, I would hear the owl from a bit of a distance; this season I could narrow it down to my immediate front yard: a mighty Oak or a pair of brilliantly green and moisture-infused Cypress (thank you heavenly abundant rains! Wow—you should see this night show of Cypress trees stretching their tendril-frond-like-softest-greenery to the stars!!!) I have to catch my breath as I peer at this majestic site; my heart fills beyond capacity.
It’s Halloween night and I pray my owl will be softly cooing while neighborhood children joyfully trick-or-treat and are perhaps privy to hear the call of the wild. I’ll be listening curb-side with huge barrels of candy-and-treat-filled bags.
Happy Halloween this magical evening, 2009!
Thanks for your kind comment and interesting story about your own owl adventures, Gracie. It IS magical to hear or see an owl in one’s garden at night. We hear both great-horned and screech owls here, but we still haven’t spotted one yet. —Pam