To find an owlet, you have to think and act like an owlet

April 17, 2009

April continued to live up to the promise of spring with another gorgeous, warm day approaching the 70s.

Like the other day, I found Charles in Charles' Fav Conifer from the far side of The Wooded Area. Check the below picture closely for the yawning male Great Horned Owl. I was chuffed to not only see him yawn but also to capture it with my camera. For the hundreds and hundreds of hours I have spent watching the owls, yawning remains an infrequently seen behavior.

I spied Sarah in Wooded Area only a few minutes after finding Charles. Charles flew to The Bushy Tree, gracefully landing in the same spot as night before. Shortly after, I found Art not too far from the Quintet Conifers.


By adjusting my vantage point, I could see Charles, Sarah and Art from one place. As a fast and unidentified heron or egret came flying through Sarah did a double winged stretch. She followed this by fluffing out a bit and grooming some. While watching Sarah I realized that Charles was not hooting at all and he had not done so the night before either. The post-nesting season period from the spring until the late summer is the least vocal time of the year for the parents. Hooting and duets do occur but with nothing like the vigor of the autumn and winter.

Wendy called and she was going to come out tonight and look for Mo. After I rang off, I saw a group of fellow animal fans that I saw on occasion; nice folks who are always eager to hear the latest about the owls and other critters in the park.

I called Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli . I then met up with them and then went to meet Wendy. Barb had been interviewed today by Katie Rank for the article that Katie wrote about me. I thanked her for taking the time to be interviewed. I met up with Wendy and we joined Barb and Chris at the north bank of the lake to look for Mo.

We looked carefully but could not find him until Wendy took a new tack. She did a great imitation of the raspy begging cheep made by Great Horned owlets. After just a few of the calls, Mo responded with his own begging cheep that led us to find his location. I gently scolded Wendy for reasons she was well aware of, namely that while imitating the call of an animal can help you find the animal, it can also be a unintentionally confusing and/or provocative gesture to the animal. However, as someone who when hungry, gets as if not more whiny than a ravenous Great Horned Owlet, Wendy knows how they feel. As she said about the begging cheeps that night, "They come naturally to me." Wendy's sincerity and overall grooviness won the day.



We found Mo in the group of conifers along the lakeside, the same group where he had some spent some time last night. We speculated if he had gone back to other side of the lake last night after I had left and only to return to the north side of the lake. Mo moved around the conifer going from thicker sections of branches to more exposed perches. His begging cheeps decreased for a time but soon ramped up again. We moved further away from the group of conifers just in case Sarah came by; we did not want to get in between her and Mo!

After Mo moved back to a thicker section of conifer, Wendy and I took our leave and headed out for dinner. This way, we knew for sure that one of the hungry little ones would be fed!

A Wild Turkey, a Barred Owl and a family of Great Horned Owls walk into a bar...

April 16, 2009

I was sitting on my desk working when my cell phone rang. It was Chris Gerli of City Cycling Tours calling, his voice grim and full of concern. I swallowed with trepidation as I awaited bad news about the owls. Chris came right to the point; after coming closer to joining the rest of the Great Horned Owl family last night, the owlet Mo was back on his own on the north side of the lake. Sigh.

Why did he come back? I was still in the dark about what initially led Mo to his lakeside residence but it seemed clear that this return was a deliberate, willful act of his own. Chris said that Mo was in a conifer not far from the dual-use path. I thanked Chris for his call and shook my head at this latest development. I had really hoped that Mo would be with the rest of the family. This place would offer him greater access to food and more security from his watchful parents.

Armed with the news about Mo, I headed off into the park, which was reveling in a bright, mild spring day. I walked up Skinker Blvd and as I was along a fairway of the golf course, I saw a Wild Turkey hen. At first, I did not even do a double take; my brain just registered that it was a turkey. Then I thought, "A turkey!" It was the first Wild Turkey I had seen in the park for many months. Overall, I have had relatively few sightings of this species in the park but this has made the sightings even more memorable.

This hen continued on its merry way, seemingly unaware or unconcerned about the rush hour traffic.

I stopped at the glade of White Pines at the edge of the prairie-savannah near Kennedy Forest to look for the long unseen Barred Owls. Sure enough they were not were there nor had they for the last several weeks. Last year, they went through a similar pattern; regularly found in the late fall through winter and then as spring unfolded they left their coniferous commune for parts unknown.

Continuing on into Kennedy Forest itself, I paused to look in vain for the two Great Horned Owls that I found for a few weeks during the winter. My owl searching was not all for not as I found a Barred Owlnot far from one of the eastern entrances of Kennedy Forest. I had never seen an owl in this specific part of the forest and I was thrilled to see this splendid owl.

While on my way over to the territory of Charles and Sarah, I could not help but stop and revel in the park in bloom.


I ran into photographer maestro and Forest Park booster extraordinaire Edward Crim who was able to direct me to Mo; about half way up a pine tree on the north bank of the lake. It good to see him alive and well and in a conifer for the first time!


We headed off to The Wooded Area to locate the rest of the family. Like many of my recent posts about this time of year, Charles was again in his Favorite Conifer but in an atypical branch. Sarah perched in a large deciduous tree in The Wooded Area.


Charles flew off to The Bushy Tree so Edward and I rounded the bend to reacquire him. The sun was setting beautifully over the park. Seeing countless sunsets in all their glorious varieties is one of my favorite fringe benefits of my owl observations.


The Bushy Tree was just starting to show the buds that would eventually bloom and demonstrate that my name for this tree was not unfounded! Charles looked particularly magnificent in this tree this night.


As Sarah flew eastward and we finally saw the other owlet, Art, go to The Quintet Conifers.

Still full of concern about Mo, we went back to lake area and found him on the grassy ground of the north bank. He got some grief from American Robins but not enough to prevent him from nuzzling some branches with his head, an all too cute bit of behavior. Moe's cuteness did not convince some nearby Mallards as they flew off after getting rather close to him for their comfort. And yes, Great Horned Owls can and do eat ducks among many other things.

Mo made a few short flights, which made me wonder if he was more comfortable learning to be an adult owl out here in this less thickly wooded area. While The Wooded Area offered the protection of his parents and more hiding places, this more open area might offer a less demanding more gradual environment in which to mature.

Watching Mo, I could not help but think of my own development in regards to a particular natural area setting; the ocean. As a three to five year old, I had not reached a comfort level with the raucous surf of the Atlanic Ocean along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where my family stayed for a week or two most summers. Instead I reveled in the almost wave-less bodies of water in and around the Tidewater region around Norfolk, Newport News and the like, that we encountered on the trip down from the suburbs of Washington, D.C. My family kindly stopped at these mild waters and I splashed around with delight. Over the years, I came to tolerate then love the pounding Atlantic surf and the joys it offered.

Next Mo flew into one of a group of conifers. He moved within the tree, learning which branches could hold him best. Overall, this is a slow learning process for owlets. In my years watching the owls, the poor choice of perching spots is an almost fool-proof way of identifying an owlet from an adult, especially as the owlets' flying skills improve and their physical appearance matures.

Mo then made a nice flight back to the ground. He moved to the base of tree and it seemed to provie a good hiding spot as he began to beg in earnest. The two of us seemed to each be in a curiousity cunundrom, do we venture out and closer to see and learn more or do we play it safe. I wondered if curiousity was the two way street with each participant weighing the pros and cons. I wanted to get closer to Mo but was keenly aware that Sarah might not be happy about that and make said unhappiness clear in a way that could lead to me getting stiches. By the same token, I think Mo wanted to venture out more but had enough sense and instinct to stay relatively obscured. With this pleasant stalemate in full swing, I headed home a little early after the late night the night before.

Extra! Extra! Friend of The Owl Man Gets More Great Press!

October 2, 2009

My friend, Edward Crim, just got a great write up in the new issue (September 30,2009) of the West End Word about his amazing photography project Forest Park 365, http://web.me.com/edwardcrim/FP365/FP365/FP365.html

Congratulations, Edward!

It's a great article that does a superb job of describing him and his project. Edward is a superb photographer of animals, plants, people, architecture, landscape, you name it. His dedication to the park and to his project of photographing the park every day is beyond reproach.

The article features a great shot of one of this year's owlets, Art and Edward kindly made reference to me in the interview-thanks, Edward!

A new owl friend!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Enjoying the quiet this past Sunday morning, I checked my e-mail. I found a very nice e-mail complimenting me on my blog and expressing interest seeing more of the in the wildlife in Forest Park with like-minded folks. I immediately replied back and let the sender, Deepa, know that I would be happy to meet her that very day and show her the owls and as much other wildlife as possible. Through a series of e-mails and phone calls, we arranged to meet at the park's visitor center.

After a brief troll through the wetlands and surrounding areas in which I saw my first American Kestrel in many months along with a Great Egret, a juvenile Night Heron (most likely a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron) and a few Bullfrogs, I headed to the visitor center. I stopped on the way to talk to Chris Gerli and then I met Deepa, her daughter Anjana and son-in-law with their lovely infant daughter Kavya. We had a nice chat and then Deepa and I headed out from there. I'll let Deepa tell the rest of the story via her cool blog. Enjoy!

A big day for Mo and lots of other cool owl happenings!

April 15, 2009

Even though it was tax day, it was a gorgeous one; bright, sunny and windy. I saw a nice indicator of spring as I saw three herons and egret species close together in the riffles by the Suspension Bridge; a Great Egret, a Snowy Egret and a Green Heron. Gorgeous.


I did not find Mo on my initial search of the north side of the lake. Little did know what excitement would happen with Mo later this evening.

While I was looking from the north side of The Wooded Area, I found Charles in Charles' Favorite Conifer -a real needle in a haystack moment. If I moved just inches from my vantage point, I would have lost sight of Charles. This was not the first time I had done found him from this perspective but it was the first time this year.



I came back around The Wooded Area and reacquired Charles in this tree from a more typical perspective. He did some early evening grooming. In order to maintain basic health and hygiene as well as maintain their silent flight capability, owls groom themselves thoroughly.

Just outside of The Cut-In, I found Sarah along the northwest section of the area and then I found the owlet Art, quite close to her. Art was doing some early begging cheeps and he made a short hop or two from branch to branch.

Sarah made a short flight into The Bushy Tree. I came around and found Sarah in The Bushy Tree. She was big, gorgeous and bathed in the late afternoon sunlight.




I could see Art not to far from Sarah in The Bushy Tree. A couple of large dogs began moving around the edge of The Wooded Area and then inside of it. I could not see an owner and I noticed that Sarah was keeping a close eye on the dogs, especially with the owlet so near to her. I think if the dogs got too close for comfort that Sarah would have done something about it, just like this Great Horned Owl did to this dog:



I went back to the other side of The Wooded Area and heard the dogs barking but what was happening was still unclear. I reacquired Charles at the northern edge of The Wooded Area, just like the day before.

By this point Art had moved and was now in and around The Quinetet Conifers. I came around to other side of hill and saw Sarah still in The Bushy Tree. She did a Double Wing Stretch, which, along with defecation, is often a prelude to flight. A couple of bats flew around and I could see a few Mallard Ducks on the ground. Sarah seemed to be checking both of them out at various times. She then executed an Escalator Stretch with a quick return of wing and leg to perching position. Charles began to hoot as I watched Sarah's stretching. Sarah took off and flew north to the roadside in a powerful and gorgeous flight.



Charles continued to hoot and I reacquired Sarah in a Cottonwood along the road. She flew off a short distance across the road and landed in a tree. Soon after she returned back to The Wooded Area with something in her talons-she caught something! I couldn't tell what it was but she dropped it off in The Wooded Area, possibly in the The Great Northern before returning to the roadside. Charles flew off across the lake, a gorgeous flight that he interrupted to go after but ultimately miss a bird in flight.



I happily ran into Chris Gerli and Barb Brownell and we sprang into action! We heard a great deal of robin calling but no owlet begging. Chris found Art in The Great Northern and the owlet was feeding on its own; an impressive at this young age. The Great Northern was the sight of several feedings of last year's owlets by Sarah.

This tree gets its name from its massive size and northerly position as well as referencing the hotel on the great TV series, Twin Peaks. In the second of its two series, Great Horned Owls were used in the show in a powerful manner that greatly impressed me, then in my late teens. Although a decade-and-a-half passed between this series of the show and my first encounters with Charles and Sarah, the show was undoubtedly a step on the path to where I am now with owls being an important part of my life, particularly this pair and their progeny.

Sarah went blazing over us while vocalizing in a screech/cheeping manner after doing a pause/practice attack at the top of a tree and landing in the Eastern Tree.



With the light fading fast, we agreed to go looking for Mo along the north bank of Post-Dispatch Lake. As we got closer we began to hear Mo making begging cheeps. We moved in closer and saw him make a nice flight to a low branch of a deciduous tree. He continued to beg and then he blasted off low to the ground, possibly going for a bird on the ground as we heard some bird calls and Mo bill clacking. We reacquired Mo in another low branch but now in a conifer. We didn't see any further evidence that he caught something.

Things then got really exciting. We saw Sarah fly over to this side of the lake with some food in her talons. Mo then made a loud squawk and flew over to the small tree in which Sarah had landed. We could see some food exchange/feeding taking place for a few moments until Sarah flew down to the ground. Mo began to emit begging cheeps at a rate and with a fevered intensity I had never observed. He was so excited at the prospect of food that he even bill-clacked.



He pursued Sarah with the food but she headed back across the lake with the prey item.Working with the last remnants of daylight, we struggled to see what was happening but the next thing we knew, we heard and then saw Mo on the other side of the lake! He had followed Sarah over to get some food. His flight across the lake likely took him across the water at one of its thinner points but at a distance of about 70-80 yards, it was quite significant achievement for a recently-fledged owlet. We all agreed pretty quickly that Sarah was likely luring Mo back to the parents' territory using food as bait. As a support to this theory, I mentioned an episode described in The World of the Great Horned Owl by G. Ronald Austing John B. Holt, Jr., one of the seminal works on the species, in which a mother owl encouraged at least one of her youngsters to fledge by luring them out of the nest with food.

We had a good view of him on the south bank of the lake. Shortly after he made a short flight to another portion of lake bank, we decided to head home. We were optimistic that Mo would join up with the family group in The Wooded Area and we looked forward to seeing the family back together again.

The owlets have left the building!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009


Kindly allow (owlow) me to skip ahead to the present day. I plan to continue my gradual process of blog updates about the doings of Charles, Sarah and this year's owlets, Art and Mo, but I need to jump ahead briefly.


Tonight I went to the park for the seventh consecutive night and I did not observe the owlets at all. I have been keeping a keen eye and ear out for them as it has been some time since I have observed these fascinating owlets. To recap:


Last definite sighting of both owlets, Thursday, August 20, 2009


Last possible sighting of an owlet, Tuesday, August 25, 2009.


Since this date, I have not observed the owlets at all. A few days after August 25, when I still had not seen the owlets, I told myself that I would give two weeks from August 25 and if I had not seen the owlets within that two week period then I would make the call that they had headed out on their own.


Over the last two weeks I have not seen or heard the owlets but I have found some possible evidence of them. Evidence that might point to natural processes taking place or a premature end to their young lives. Along the north bank of Post-Dispatch Lake, I have found two stretches of the bank with numerous feathers (mostly body or contour feathers) on the ground. I'm not a feather expert but I'm pretty certain that some of the feathers are owl feathers. I think the other feathers are duck feathers as a few Mallard Duck families hung out on these stretches of lake shore.

My hope is that the owl feathers are a result of the owlets undergoing their first molt, completing the transition from juvenile to adult plumage. My fear is that the feathers are evidence that the owlets were attacked, injured and possibly killed by another animal. This concern is assuaged by the lack of other evidence such as blood trails and corpses. On the other hand, the large volume of feathers, particularly on one of the stretches gives me cause for concern.

While adult Great Horned Owls have very few natural predators, the owlets they are vulnerable to animals that would otherwise not pose a threat to them as adults unless they were were injured or ill. Of the animals that live in the park, the ones that could pose a hazard to even six month plus old owlets like Mo and Art are: Red Foxes, Red-Tailed Hawks, Coyotes, Raccoons, and Minks. In addition, many medium to large domestic dogs would be a formidable threat to an owlet.

The previous four groups of owlets born to Charles and Sarah have all left their parents territory well into September, usually between the second and third week of the month. I hope the owlets early absence is the result of their independent streak (particularly in Mo's case) and not the result of a predatory encounter with the owlets in the role of prey.

After making the call on Tuesday, September 8, that the owlets were no longer around, I have not gone looking for them. I have gone directly to Charles and Sarah's perch sites and watched them. As always, this is a bittersweet transistion. I am glad I can focus my time and energies more closely but I miss seeing the owlets and their continued growth and development.

I wish Mo and Art well and I look forward to continuing to tell their story retroactively! Thanks for reading!

Where in MO is Mo?

April 14, 2009

As I had the previous days, I began my search with Mo. Yet unlike the days previous, I did not find Mo at first. I checked the trees in which I had seen him and many others that were within the realm of possibility. A key lesson about wildlife observation,that I have learned from my time with the owls, is the importance of keeping one's eyes and mind open. While I have learned many of the owls favorite perches and spots, they are known to mix it up when you least expect it. I have had a few incidents that have brought home this point. I won't pretend and say that I always keep my mind and eyes as open as I should but I get better as time goes by.

I hoped that Mo had rejoined his family in The Wooded Area so I headed there next to test this hope and locate the rest of the family. I soon found Charles in that special tree known as Charles' Favorite Conifer. Keeping my eyes and mind open, I next located Sarah. She was perched high in the tallest of The Trio Conifers. I had looked for in this tree but did not find her until I looked at the tree from a different vantage point. This "angle-dependent" phenomenon is one of the trickier things to which I have learned to adapt and use in my time with the owls. Finding the right angle or vantage point can make or break finding them and observing them with the greatest success.

Having located Charles and Sarah, I now to keep my eyes extra open for the owlets and their protective mother. Female Great Horned Owls are fiercely protective mothers and it is not unusual for them to attack humans that get too close to their young. As I looked for the owlets I frequently looked behind me to see if Sarah was showing any signs of alarm or attack. It was more than a little unnerving to look for the owlets with her behind me as I was well aware of how fast and silently she could get to me if I came too close to her youngsters. At one point, I turned with alarm to a wooden clacking sound only to find it was a woodpecker (most likely a Red-bellied Woodpecker) burrowing into a tree. Thankfully, it was not angry bill-clacking by Sarah. I have heard owlets bill clack when excited or at play but I'm just fine that I have not heard the adults bill clack. Bill clacking by the adults t would mean that they were unhappy, quite possibly with me. As I continued to look for Mo, Charles began to groom himself.

I continued my search by entering The Wooded Area via an obscured path I call The Cut In. I found this path in the summer of 2008, when it became an invaluable entryway into a different but important vantage point inside of The Wooded Area. I looked in vain for the owlets but due to my past success in finding owls and owlets in this area and this day's atmosphere, I could palpably feel the potential for seeing owlets.

Cutting out of The Cut In, I wound my way around The Wooded Area until I was north side of the area. Once there I saw a an owl flying that may have been a youngster but my glimpse was too brief to be sure. Making my way back to The Trio Conifers and The Quintet Conifers, I heard Charles hoot what was likely the first hoot of the evening. Sarah was no longer in the tallest of The Trio Conifers and I wondered if it was her I saw flying. In addition, not knowing where she was even more disconcerting than earlier when I knew where she was!

My concern for Sarah's location abated slightly as I saw at the pinnacle of Charles' Favorite Conifer the wavering, near-frantic wingbeats of an owlet trying to maintain its balance. The owlet's presence was confirmed by a typically rasping begging cheep. Now the question became, which owlet was this?

The owlet flew down from the conifer to a tree that had lost much of its height through disease or storm but formed a nice low horizontal platform. I reacquired it and saw that it had joined Sarah who had some prey! Sarah began to feed the owlet, tearing off pieces of the prey that the owlet would then grab from Sarah's mouth and bolt down. I could not tell which owlet it was at this time.

I saw Sarah feed last year's owlets several times on this deciduous dining room table. This feeding session did not last long as Sarah flew off out of The Wooded Area with a large portion of prey in her massive talons. The owlet did not give chase but I did as I was curious to see if Sarah was taking the prey to feed the other owlet.



From my vantage point, it looked Sarah's flight took her to The Mixed Glade, a group of conifers and deciduous trees. I walked around to this side of The Wooded Area (again) but could not find her in The Mixed Glade. I looked around carefully and much to my surprise I found her in The Bushy Tree. Not only was she in a spot I did not expect (it looked like she had flown past The Bushy Tree) but the prey she had carried was nowhere to be found! The only conclusions that came to mind was that she had cached the prey or given to a yet unseen owlet before flying to The Bushy Tree.

I should mention that as it was mid-April, The Bushy Tree was bare and not at all bushy. This tree is a Catalpa and in the summer it becomes extremely bushy with dense leaves that make finding owls in it rather tricky. This tree has been a favorite summer perch for the owls for as long as I have been watching them. I had not seen any of the owls in The Bushy Tree for many months so it was stimulating to see Sarah but I was still puzzled about what she done with the prey.

I went back to area near The Quintet Conifers and saw Charles expel a pellet from out of his mouth. I missed filming this act by seconds but the loud impact of the pellet on the ground below indicated that it was a good size pellet. I realized that Charles had been rather quiet so far and that the pellet that was on the way up was responsible. Pellets are a compressed mass of undigestable materials such as bones, fur and feathers. When a pellet is on its way out of the gizzard and back up an owl's throat, it restricts their ability to eat or vocalize. On several occasions, I have seen one of the owls remain utterly silent until they pass a pellet whereupon they vocalized with vigor.

Charles took off flying beautifully for a short distance until he came to the northern edge of The Wooded Area, not far from the north-south path that runs through the middle of the area. I readjusted my position and was able to see Charles, Sarah and Mo all in their respective perches from one spot, a rare occurrence. By this point, I was feeling more certain that the owlet was Art. I now headed back around The Wooded Area to look again for Mo.

As I got to the northern side of the area, I found Charles who was perched in an in a much higher than normal spot in a deciduous tree. I looked back at Sarah in The Bushy Tree and saw her head bob. While owls have incredible visual acuity, they will bob their heads from side to side and up and down to improve their depth perception on an object of interest. Sarah then flew through The Wooded Area until she landed near The Trio Conifers and The Quintet Conifers. I reacquired Art and Charles before heading off to look for Mo. Despite the approach of sunset and having expelled a pellet, Charles remained silent.

I returned to the starting point of my prowl and while I still had not found Mo. I did see a Great Egret, a Green Heron and a female Wood Duck. Even though it was cool and grey, seeing the egret and the heron reinforced the certainty of spring's arrival. The Wood Duck was perched on a tree, always a somewhat surreal but pleasant sight. I enjoy seeing Wood Ducks land in trees, marveling at their ability to land on a branch with their webbed feet lacking the articulated toes of most birds.

I was even more pleased soon after by sighting two humans, my friends Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli; two of the most dedicated owl and wildlife watchers I know. I hoped they had found Mo and they had! Barb and Chris had seen him make several good flights and emit a number of begging cheeps. They had even seen him make a few attacks on sticks on the ground. We speculated that this was more than predatory play but a very real quest for food by a hungry owlet out on his own. I was glad to know Mo was alive and under keen-eyed observation.

We found Mo again as he was on the ground further west than he had been the past few days. His current position was just next to one of his parents' favorite perches on this side of the lake. I let Barb and Chris know about this perch and that I had spent many hours watching Charles and Sarah in this tree, as recently as this fall and winter. On a number of occasions, I have been able to see them in this tree from the other side of the lake, a distance well over 100 yards.

Chris had heard Charles hoot earlier and was curious to find him, so Chris headed off back to the other side of the lake. Just as Chris left, Mo made a long flight along the very edge of the lake until he landed in a small deciduous tree. At first, Barb and I were apprehensive as it looked like Mo was going to try and fly across the lake and we were concerned that he would not be able to make that distance. Even at the thinnest part of the lake, the distance is a pretty long way for a recently fledged owlet to fly. Mo made two other long flights along the edge of the lake and we could hear him making loud begging cheeps.

We decided to head for home and as we headed for their car (Barb and Chris are kindness itself and always give me a ride home when we run into each other. Thankfully, I don't take them too far out of their way) Barb saw one then we all saw both of the parent owls along the road. I made a rough judgment as to which owl was which and we headed in for a closer look. The closer look revealed an an understandable error. The owl that Barb spotted was not an owl rather it was a rather large, owl-shaped branch on a Cottonwood. I told Barb not to feel bad as that branch had tricked me three times before I could remember to not be fooled (again) by this branch. Throughout my time watching the owls there have been branches and other structures that fool my eyes and make me look closer at something that looks like but is not an owl. We all had a good natured laugh at Barb's well-intentioned but mistaken sighting and head for home.