Last month a guest mentioned he would like to see a Lesser Sooty Owl. “Wake me at anytime!” he said. So at 2 am the night before he was due to leave, a young owl made an appearance on a post near the office. It was making a harsh begging call, you could not mistake it. So I tiptoed down to the cottages, and knocked on the guest’s window. By the time we made it back to the office, it had moved off the post but fortunately, stayed close by, and we were able to view this magnificent owl for quite a while. Since then, I have seen the juvenile owl on the post a few more times, and an adult there once.
The call of the adults can be very eerie on a still night, they sound like falling bombs (without the explosion at the end, thankfully). On our very first night here in the rainforest over 18 years ago, I remember being woken up by this sound and having no clue what it was.