Join Nature Notes Sunday at 12:00 am EST to Friday at 11:00 pm EST. More information can be found at the top of the blog on a separate page, but it really is easy. What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature? Write a blog post with a photo, a story, a poem, anything goes because I love to see what Mother Nature is up to in your area. Please submit one blog post per week and link back to nature notes in some way.

1.	betty – NZ	6.	A Quiet Corner	11.	Islandrambles
2.	Pictografio	7.	Rqauel Jimenez Artesania	12.	SPRING FLOWERS
3.	Andrea	8.	orchid( apan)	13.	Nature Skye Photos
4.	Pat–Mt McKinley Wilderness Lodge, Alaska	9.	Birgitta B.
5.	Day One

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I am working from my IPAD not my computer making a post more difficult to put together. I was up in the late night hours and head a call and I made a video of it as I knew it was an owl but not sure which one. It is a robin sized screech owl and I have never heard one before… so I wanted to learn more about owl and keep notes and so my Nature Notes for this week.

FAST FACTS ABOUT OWLS

Owls are intriguing birds that easily capture the attention and curiosity of birders. These facts may help clear up a bit of their mystery and reveal what a hoot owls really are.

• • Many owl species have asymmetrical ears. When located at different heights on the owl’s head, their ears are able to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions. Ready, aim, strike.
  • The eyes of an owl are not true “eyeballs.” Their tube-shaped eyes are completely immobile, providing binocular vision which fully focuses on their prey and boosts depth perception.
  • Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.
  • A group of owls is called a parliament. This originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia.
  • Owls hunt other owls. Great Horned Owls are the top predator of the smaller Barred Owl.

 

• • In fact, owls are insanely good hunters. Check out this video to learn why

• The tiniest owl in the world is the Elf Owl, which is 5 – 6 inches tall and weighs about 1 ½ ounces. The largest North American owl, in appearance, is the Great Gray Owl, which is up to 32 inches tall.

 

• The Northern Hawk Owl can detect—primarily by sight—a vole to eat up to a half a mile away.
• In fat years when mice are plentiful, usually monogamous Boreal Owls are apt to be promiscuous. Because easy prey means less work for parents feeding their young, males have been caught mating with up to three females, while females have been seen with at least one beau on the side.
• Barn Owls swallow their prey whole—skin, bones, and all—and they eat up to 1,000 mice each year.

• Northern Saw-whet Owls can travel long distances over large bodies of water. One showed up 70 miles from shore near Montauk, New York
• Not all owls hoot! Barn Owls make hissing sounds, the Eastern Screech-Owl whinnies like a horse, and Saw-whet Owls sound like, well, an old whetstone sharpening a saw. Hence the name.

 

 

• Owls are zygodactyl, which means their feet have two forward-facing toes and two backward-facing toes. Unlike most other zygodactyl birds, however, owls can pivot one of their back toes forward to help them grip and walk.

To learn more about these fascinating creatures, download the Audubon Bird Guide: Owls app now free on iTunes. This interactive guide to the 19 owl species of North America features both in-depth owl information and fun games and quizzes. Download it now.

Nature walks are wonderful. But you don’t have to travel to special location to enjoy Mother Nature. There is so much to see in your own neighborhood or even in your own back or front yard. Get a guide-book of the wildlife in your area and learn the calls of birds and frogs and toads. So many times I hear a bird that lets me know what I am looking for in the trees.

Have a wonderful week from Michelle!