Rambling through the park today I visited a place next to a babbling brook where shamrocks grow. To my delight they are just beginning to bloom showing off their three-leaf design. The closeup below shows us their delicate floral veins next to lacy ferns.

Hiking through the forest I came to one of my favorite places, the cedar grove. I did not have time to ponder their glory. A crow was causing a raucous up high. What the heck? No peace for me in the woods!

Of course I could have said… that dumb noisy crow! But being a crow aficionado, I know his loud caw means he is not happy with a larger bird. Perhaps a hawk, eagle or owl has caught his attention. They do not like these birds of prey especially during breeding season.

I walked further up the hill to see what his problem was.  I kept trying different positions along with paying attention to the crow’s facing direction. At last I found the owl hiding in the brushy top of the tree.  I apologize to all my crow families that I did not get a photo of the crow who alerted me.

This forest picture below gives you an idea of what I was looking at. At the top of the middle trees is the owl. Near impossible to see with the sun in the background.

Once I spotted him in the upper branches with my binoculars, I found landmarks in the limbs. That lead to these three progressively zoomed in photos.  Even so, he is still very difficult to see.

Keen observation is the name of the game in life. Put your earbuds and small screen away. Open your ears and eyes to see all the beauty around us. In my case Shamrocks, a crow and an owl.