Tawny Blessing

‘Tawny Frogmouth’ no less, but not an owl and 
not t’ be muddled with ‘The Southern Boobook’  
which is (and called mopoke); don’t ask, it’s as 
obvious as the noise it makes - which suggests 
the further south you go the weirder sound that 
differentiates, ending in the Tasmanian Spotted 
Owl or Morepork which is in KiwiLand too; yep 
be confused, and they all look very much alike 

But th’ mate I’m onto was a local who’d staked 
himself in broad daylight on the lawn obviously 
unafraid letting me take pictures before he flew 
away into the ash tree; didn’t answer my query 
wotcha up t’ cobber, yet afforded an imperious 
glance suggesting I go read Wikipedia asap 

Having done that I’m now intrigued with habits 
and habitat - seems they’re ace predators who 
like tasting both large & small insects regularly; 
having these guys happily located in fruit trees 
means the Orchard has ‘mopoke’ allies whose 
given-to cries are indeed blessings disguised 

© 11 September 2014, I. D. Carswell