Tigers on my hand and remembering the owls

Driving through the memory lane of summer, I can't help but be glad that i was here at ACNW for that very summer. loads of fun; making the corvid enclosures, "firing" the water up in the sky after saying yes to a question "Do you want to do something cooler?", piling rocks on the wheelbarrow and tipping it over the Japanese style, weeding and digging, putting boards together and laughing after stripping a dozen or so screws or putting a finger on the nose who's going to do wood cutting (I always lost), going for a walk down the lane to the gates fuming, driving to town and Finlayson for tiny minnows and ropes for perches. Those are the memories, and several others, that will be stuck in my head.

Found a painted turtle crossing the road on one of our trips for minnows. With Renee.

I will always miss those days and always remember The Owl.

It's January, winter is at it's height? Come on it's on its height already right? PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) Think Positive : Spring is on our doorsteps. I got another bird to care for today, a great horned owl named Cleo. Once thought to be a girl with his enormous size and grumpy attitude apparently this folk is a dude with his deep voice and he is just a "big" boy, you see. They are very much known for their size and ear tufts and like all the other owls by their incredible sense of hearing and sight. He is a grey faced GHOW and eyes with yellow irises and clicks his beak a lot. Owls have feathered talons that aids in stealth hunting and silent flight so as not to break their own focus while on a hunt. His left wing was broken and he can't fly that well, I could not be sure of that for i havent seen him free loafted. He was tethered when I came in last January.

He is a bit grumpy as I've said yet he is very wise, don't get me wrong with this. They aren't any close to our brain capabilities, but seeing him figuring out how long his tether will allow him is just fascinating. I have been sitting on the cold floor of our raptor hallway just to watch him eat. He is easily distracted because of his immensely good hearing and so every sound or shuffling he hears he will turn his head in that direction. Myth Busting: Owls cannot turn their heads around in full circle. They still do have bones there, 14 bones to be exact, twice as much as our necks do. This is due to the fact that owls can't roll their eyes in their sockets like us, how do you think they would show their disagreement or disgust?

Cleo in his "most" calm pose, well actually he is close to clicking his beaks.

A good picture of a GHOW from the internet. Note the big eyes and "ear" tufts, like us their eyes are behind their eyes. The tufts are just feathers for camouflage and facial expressions.

Answer: Hissing and Clacking and Hooting ho-ho-hoo hoo hoo! This is a great horned one's call.

I am very much looking forward in observing more of his behaviours although I would never deny that those talons of his could do a great deal of injury if I am not careful. Nevertheless, no pain, no gain. I had been bitten multiple times by my other bird Dakota, a red tailed hawk. She is a real beauty and got her own personality of being of royalty. She wouldn't just let you touch her feet. She hates being touched. Red tails are the bigger of the hawk family, belonging to the buteos, accipiters are the other group. The are soarers of the sky with broad wings and bigger body they needed the thermals to keep them up high. Hunting is an awesome experience too, they would go for different types of animals like snakes, rodents, bats and many others. Eyes are covered by a visor like bones called supraorbital bones that keep the sun's glare off their eyes. Red tails take about 5 years to get their red tails and molt into their adult plumage.

Me with Dakota on my glove, giving a small talk on red tails with the Brazilians.

Unlike Cleo and the owls, hawks are diurnal birds. They are very much active during the day and hunt in broad daylight or twilight for some sor bats. They also have tubular eyes that can adjust they pupils at will to zoom in or zoom out a view. And unlike owls their sight is of greater height than their hearing. Talons are their greatest weapon and you don't want your hand anywhere near them when you have food, they will ask for it.

So now, I am very glad to have the "tigers of the sky" in my wild-life. This will be an experience of a lifetime and hopefully the last five months of my stay here at our center will be very productive for them and me.

If you are so much as interested in meeting these birds as well as our 7 other birds visit www.audubon-center.org We would be very glad to have your support in any way! Let us help our wildlife.

Line for the day:
(Thinking) Shoot, what would i do? I am stuck here inside with the door close behind me two or so feet from a hungry owl with food in his talon. . .
(Cleo staring at me) I'm trying to eat here, you know.
He allowed me to watch him eat, and perhaps I could take advantage of that next time and watch him from inside his mew and no longer with the door between us.

Thanks to Jeff for entrusting me with Cleo and Dakota and to the owl lady Renee whom Cleo sends his respect and longing. I shall take good care of him so don't worry. We miss you much.

Over and Out.