Riverside

Riverside is such an interesting place to live. It's urban, historic and you can have close encounters with wildlife. Possums, millions of tiny lizards, raccoons, doves, your neighbor's strange yellow lab...

Seriously, though, my dog and I recently had a couple of brushes with a large owl. A couple of weeks ago we were walking at night around the corner of Barrs and Park streets by the foot center when one came swooping down over us and then up into a tree. Let's just say that if my dog had been challenged to a duel, she would have run away, dragging me behind, holding onto the leash for dear life. Then, just a few nights ago, we were walking around the same corner when we heard a very loud, unpleasant-sounding screech. It was so striking that we both stopped in our tracks and looked around for awhile. We didn't see anything. I thought maybe it was a screech owl, but a little Google action helped me determine it was a barn owl. (Turns out, screech owls don't really screech the way barn owls do.) I'm assuming it was the same owl we had seen before.

This is just a quick note to let everyone know I am the Westside-area reporter. My Westside Sun and this site cover the Westside, Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, Murray Hill, Lake Shore, Wesconnett, Cecil, Baldwin and surrounding neighborhoods.

I took over this beat a little more than a month ago, and am looking forward to working with you all! Look for a lot more to come on this site, and be sure to check out the print editions on Wednesdays and Saturdays in The Florida Times-Union.

Until next time,

Heather Lovejoy, reporter

heather.lovejoy@jacksonville.com