" SAW-WHET OWL & WILD GRAPES " " The saw whet owl inhabits the forests of North America, ranging into both Alaska and Mexico. During the day, it roosts in tree cavities or holes vacated by flickers and other woodpeckers. Although the saw whet has been known to allow people to approach it quite closely, its speckled plumage is effective in dense foliage. The saw whet eats insects, small mammals, frogs and birds. As one of the smaller owls, it must always guard against predation by larger owls. Humans are probably the saw whet's greatest enemy as we continue to eradicate its forest home. This saw whet has found a hidden bower in a wild grape arbor, secure for now in a tangle of purples, greens and golds. Before my family and I moved to Canada’s West Coast, our foothold on the planet was property I had bought in Halton County, southern Ontario, in 1959. I loved those ten sloping acres nestled in the Niagara escarpment and the house I later designed and built there. In the 1960s the Escarpment was already the only rough country that remained in the environs of metropolitan Toronto, which is why I moved there. From my studio window I had a splendid view of one of the Escarpment’s more impressive eminences, Rattlesnake Point. I contemplated that view in every weather and every season, by day and by night. But probably my favorite time was during those golden days of autumn when the eastern hardwood forest is at its most exuberant. My daily hike through our woods and meadow is like a feast for the senses. I reveled in the rich dank smell of decay and the incredible variety of form and color - the jewelweed and goldenrod that often grow as high as my chin and the intricate tracery of wild grapes, whose leaves, stems and tendrils remind me of Tiffany lamps. - Robert Bateman
Saw Whet Owl and Wild Grapes - Robert Bateman -----------------------------------------------------------------
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