Owl Walk

Last night Astrid (from Lunches Fit For a Kid) and I went for a night hike in Monkton. We were led by two very knowledgeable naturalist friends of mine who brought owl call recordings to attempt to entice the real, wild owls to call back. We called for saw whet, barred, and great horned owls in that order, which is order of size from smallest to biggest. The smaller owls will not call after they hear the call of a larger owl, since a larger type of owl will act as a predator toward a smaller type of owl.

The saw whet owl is very small, but here is is pictured 

as the larger of the two owls (with a sparrow owl)

Barred owl (left) and great horned owl (right)

Unfortunately the weather conditions were not favorable to us hearing owls (too cold and windy after a nice warm spell) but my friends taught us many interesting facts about owls along the walk. For example I had no idea the feathers near an owl's feet can act like a cat's whiskers, sensing minute vibrations that can help the owl catch its tiny rodent prey! See the feathers on the feet of the saw whet owl in the picture above?

The place we hiked was Raven Ridge Natural Area, which is open to the public. I'd never been there before, despite living in Monkton at one point. I'll have to check it out in the daylight and in the spring, I've heard it's lovely in bloom. Anyone want to come with me?