May 07, 2008 - Zooming in on the great horned owlMAY 7, 2009 1 SUFFOLKTIMES.CO
on the
oomin2 in
reat horned owl
Last eveiung my aaugmer, wnu eves HUM Uy,
;alled about a big owl she saw land in the top of a
ree a short distance from her house. She thought
hat because of its size and because it had feather -
ike ears it was probably a great horned owl. As she
Matched, another large owl flew in and landed neax
t, making it look like they might be a pair.
Another possibility might be that the second owl
eras a youngster still hanging around — since they
ire early nesters — in hopes of getting a meal. Well,
hat was just too much for Barbara and me, so we
;rabbed our binoculars and headed off to get a
.00k at these nighttime hunters.
To get a better view of the owls Barbara and I
had to pass through
FOCUS ON NATURE a relatively open
area; that was lust toc
� much for these secret
hunters and they fleet
off. We'll never really
know exactly what
was going on in the
treetops, but we feel
PAUL STOUTENBURGH sure they were great
horned owls because
of their size, and we've been hearing them calling
in our woods: "Whoo- hoo -hoo."
fireat homed owls are real lazy when it comes to
nest building; as a matter of fact, they don't build
nests at all but use last year's nest of a crow or hawk o
even an osprey. (We've seen this in Orient at the state
park) They might even utilize an opening in a tree
that had been created when a large limb gave way.
If there is a rogue among birds, it's got to be the
,great horned howl. Its only challenge is a flock of
crows. You've probably heard of crows diving on
a great horned owl trying to chase it out of their
PAUL STOUTENBURGH PHO-
opening cut in this old water tank makes it possible
:k on a resident familv of barn owls.
1 ne great horned owl is consiclerect UwAiger of
the woods" and has gotten that-reputation by din-
ing on rabbits, mice, rats, small animals and even
birds. That list could include your pet cat. These
owls are quite comfortable living close to man.
The only other owl we have that comes any-
where close to the size of the great horned owl is
the barn owl, the owl that nests in old buildings,
unused water tanks and in boxes put up especially
for them. This is the owl that through the ages has
been the cause of many wives' tales. Their call is
a loud, raucous call that on a dark night can send
chills up and down your spine.
Lucky is the man who has barn owls in his build-
ings, for they are the best mousetraps and rattraps go-
ing. In a study on how many rodents young owls were
fed by their parents while still in the nest — get ready
— would you believe the total was 758! That's the
number of rodents brought to the nest from the time
the first egg hatched to the time the last of the young
left the nest. So you see, barn owls are definitely doing
a great job in getting rid of those pesky rodents.
On a much lighter note, we were glad to see the
flowers and shrubs of the North once again com-
ing into .blossom. We don't get to see any forsythia
in Florida where we are. I'm not sure if it is becaus
we don't see it there that it made such an impres-
sion on us this year, but it seemed that everywhere
I looked when we arrived back home the yellow of
forsythia dominated.
I wonder if we're seeing people planting more
perennial bushes and even some exotics than they
used to. It seems daffodils are becoming more
prominent as well as tulips, but here we have to
watch out for deer. I think tulips must be the icing
on the cake to them, for we've never been able to
keep deer from enjoying our tulips unless they are
planted behind a fence. I see more and more eight=
foot fences being put up to keep the deer out.
Before we leave the subject of plants I have to
acknowledge the wonder of the dandelion. Here is a
plant not native to our countryside, but one that stole
ashore in some grain or feed and is now found every-
where. This bright yellow flower with its tender shoots
has to be given credit for its persistence. lYy as you
will, your efforts to-eradicate it will only be temporary.
We saw few land birds where we spent the winter
in Florida on the Gulf. They were enjoying the
warmth of the Caribbean or parts of South America
and the migration north had not yet set in.
Here, of course, we have our early arrivals:
Osprey, piping plover and red -wings are the early
migrants. By now the osprey has repaired its nest
and is already incubating. Of course, sightings of
red -wings always make people here think of shrine.
The great horned owl is the largest land bird we have
around here. A powerful hunter, it-is not particular who
it dines on. The special downy feathering under the wings
lets it fly silently.
in
you were looking in on this downy family of barn
vls, you would hear the bills clicking in hope of scar-