The ćuk has returned! Yay!

Last year, starting in spring, I would hear this regular whistle outside at night. The sound is so regular and consistent in tone, duration and the length of time between sounds that I had initially thought it was something electronic. It sounded artificial.

But Nara, moja zaručnica, told me that it was in fact a ćuk, a small owl. After that, I loved hearing it. Gajnice has a lot of plants and is close to some forested areas, and this is a reminder of that that I enjoy. Eventually, sometime in summer, the ćuk disappeared. I cannot remember exactly the timing, but I was sad the little owl was gone.

Across from our apartment is a large kesten, or chestnut tree, that the ćuk spent much of it's time in. It would also switch spots, presumably moving around the neighborhood to find an area with fresh bugs to eat. The kesten has come into bloom lately and I remember the ćuk last year arriving sometime around then. So, I'd been awaiting the arrival of the ćuk.

And last night, it returned! Yay! In the same tree, we could hear that short, high pitched whistle filling the air and terrifying the local insect population.

So, welcome back little ćuk!

I have not seen the ćuk yet, but maybe one night I will. It's immersed in the heavily hidden areas of the branches up high, with no clear line of view to it.

If you're curious, the ćuk is also known as the Eurasian Scops Owl, or by its Latin name, "otus scops".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otus_scops

And here's the Croatian page:

http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%86uk