Owls in the vicinity

[Jim]

Janet loves to hear owls calling. There were quite a few in the area of the house where we lived when we first moved to Floyd. Yesterday evening, right about dusk, we heard, for the first time since here, two owls down by the river.

You'd have thought Janet heard the bells on Santa's sleigh. [smilie=w:

[MBTcustom]

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to balkandom on the phone outside the shop. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the trees I turned to my left and watched as a huge owl flew over my front yard and lighted on a telephone wire about 15 yards in front of me. From the wire to the top of his head was a good 16 inches above the wire (as in, not including the tail). He looked over his shoulder at me totally unafraid. Its like he was letting me know that even though I make payments and raise my family here, this is his property and I'm welcome to stay for a while.
I hollered at Mrs. goodsteel and my daughter to come and look. We all got to see that awesome owl for a few minutes. Not being one hoo appreciates an audience, he flew away to a more secluded area away from the light. Lord that bird had a wingspan!
Awesome.
There are some creatures that carry themselves at a higher level than the others and the owl is no exception.

[Baja_Traveler]

Count yourself lucky to have them. Here in the city we rarely if ever get to see one, but I do know they are here because every once and awhile I'll hear one hooting (more like screeching) at night. You should build an owl box and put it on your property, I'll bet you will have a family move in in no time flat.

[smokeywolf]

Don't see or hear owls very often, but hawks are abundant. We have a target rich environment here for them. Lots of rabbits, rats, cats, mice, the occasional possum, and of course dove and other birds.

[27judge]

Many years ago we had a track of land down around Elk wv, about 335 acres of ridge and gullys . Around dusk the barred owls would start calling ive read they like to hunt the creek bottoms .Many nights the wife and i would sit at our campfire and lisen to them they sure could talk, one of the many nice sounds of the woods tks for your time KEN

[Echo]

We have them occasionally. Great horned, and also their tiny cousin the Elf Owl. Have some pictures around here somewhere. One morning, before dawn, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up to read. Nice out, so instead of reading, I walked out on the front porch to marvel. And a momma owl started calling her chicks. She was right above me, to one side, atop the garage. They were nesting in a large pine tree across the street.
And, Man, are they silent fliers! Silencers on their feathers let them swoop down silently for a meal. Love 'em...

[Jim]

Did a little research this afternoon. I found out that what we've been hearing are Great Horned owls.

[foxtrotter]

I had a family of small-eared owls nesting behind my house this spring and was amused by the parents antics when I got too close. They would leave the nest very loudly with lots of wing noise, hit the ground about 25 feet away and make lots of noise thrashing around acting as if they had a broken wing! Just like killdeer do. They sure made good work on the ground squirrels.

[Dean D.]

Jim, watch out for your pets. House cats and small dogs don't stand a chance with a Great Horned Owl around. We lost a banty rooster earlier this spring to one in broad daylight!

[dagger dog]

Had a winter job overseeing a trout farm,my small camper trailer was parked one side facing a firebreak on the side of the mountain.

A great horned owl hunted the area that was cleared of trees, he had a favorite dead pine among others at the edge where he held watch. On nights that were moonlit you could make out his sillouette against the sky line.

He would drop straight down from his perch as if shot, only to open his broad wings at the last moment and glide silently across the clearing, brushing the tops of the weeds then vanish as he made the final dive onto his prey.

If the quarry was small,and here I'm guessing maybe a field mouse ,shrew, he would snag and swoop back up and fly back to the perch. Once back he would eat pulling the mouse apart or swallowing it whole.

But other times he must have connected with something larger and again a guess ,rabbit, maybe a mink or weasel ,'cause he wouldn't get back off the ground for quite awhile and when he did he would labor getting into the air.

I have heard that the wings do not have the "velcro" hook and loop design like most avian feathers, this allows the air to pass between the individual flight feathers and they are silent on the flight to the prey, unlike the noise that some birds make with their wings, (dove, quail
pheasant and others).

Can you imagine having the hearing and sight capabilities of this bird ? Their call is haunting !

[Jim]

My wife and I were driving towards Stuart Virginia on a backroad one evening. As I rounded a curve I saw an owl at the edge of the road. My wife didn't see it, so I turned around and shined the lights on it. We watched as it took off with a 'possum in its talons and landed in a tree across the road. It was a Great Horned owl, but not a particularly big one. I would bet the 'possum weighed more than the owl.

It fascinates me that they can generate that much lift.

[wildwilly]

We are blessed to have several species of raptors, including four types of owls. Recently, my wife and I have been fortunate to observe ospreys snatching fish from the canals while on our daily bicycle ride. It's really amazing to see, especially since we live in the Sonoran Desert region.

[Freightman]

I have a pair of Kite's that raises their young in my big pecan tree every year, and about this time of year we have Great Horned that move in for a month or so. I live in the middle of a city of 200,000 and we have rabbits, possum, quail,and I hear coyotes early evening most of the time during the morning. The park down the hill from me has a healthy deer population, and every morning from the middle of town there are Turkey Buzzards that leave there roost form the downtown area, I presume that they roost on one of the taller office buildings. Large city's are not void of wild life you just have to observe where they are.

[edler7]

I was out in the back yard the other night looking at the sky when an owl flew over me about 15 feet off the ground. I could feel the air from it's wings on my face as it went over.

Pretty impressive wing span from that distance.

[firefly1957]

I have been hearing more great horned owls lately here in Michigan but now i no longer see the barred owls that used to watch us just after sunset. In the past I have seen some very large great horned owls when i was young (and it was still legal) my father shot one in Arizona as it swooped down above us wind span was well over 6 feet. It left a willow tree on the side of a dry riverbed and swooped my way i was next to my father and he thought it was after me he swung the 20 gauge up and shot it at only a few feet. I still remember the ground thump that could be felt when it hit next to us in the sand! I would not dream of shooting one today though I have chased a couple off while pat hunting if they are hooting nothing will fly in a area.

[badge176]

We have Ospreys that nest on a hill- they were in the radio tower but were convinced to nest the next year by a couple of purpose built tower nesting/ roosting platforms. Sort of on the edge of the 'high-end' neighborhood were folks like their water features in their expansive, manicured yards. Well, we gets calls to the PD complaining that the Ospreys are partaking of the colorful expensive Coi carp some fools stock 'their' ponds with!!! Fun to see a giant goldfish limp in clutches of a raptor!

[popper]

Saw a nest with 2 great horned owl chicks in Estes park last year, they flew off that week. Dang those are big. Never saw mom, ranger said she was staying away from the crowd of camera buffs during the day.

[JeffinNZ]

This lil fellow following me for a while when I was hunting in the beech forest a couple of years back.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/JeffinNZ/Other%20stuff/IMG_0003.jpg

It's an NZ native owl and only about 6-8 inches tall. I got within probably 10 feet of the bird. It was the highlight of the outing (no deer.....).

[redneckdan]

Last winter there was a lemmings population crash up north and a lot of snowy owls came south into the UP. We had one that hung out at the ski hill all winter. I would sit at lunch time and watch it pluck mice off as they ran across the groomed snow. One day an ermining was chasing a mouse, along comes the owl and he snags both of them! Another time I was riding the lift and the owl goes screaming underneath my feet with 3 crows in hot pursuit. One of them dives at the owl, he rolls over, snags it and takes the fight to the ground. The owl proceeds to tear the hell out of the crow and eat it. By the time I skied down to the site all that remained was some feathers and a red streak on the snow. It took a lot of shoveling to clean that up.

[Jeffrey]

A few years ago at the Audubon aquarium, New Orleans, Louisiana swamp exhibit, a live owl was sleeping on a rock wall. Visitors were "hooting" at the owl trying to get a reaction: nothing happening. I did my kiss my hand squirrel call. The owl opened it eyes, locked me in its stare... It was hilarious. I could almost read its mind: YOU'RE NOT A SQUIRREL, YOU WOKE ME UP!

[Jim]

A few years ago at the Audubon aquarium, New Orleans, Louisiana swamp exhibit, a live owl was sleeping on a rock wall. Visitors were "hooting" at the owl trying to get a reaction: nothing happening. I did my kiss my hand squirrel call. The owl opened it eyes, locked me in its stare... It was hilarious. I could almost read its mind: YOU'RE NOT A SQUIRREL, YOU WOKE ME UP!

That might have been a target lock stare! :holysheep