Owl Prowl

ON a cool, clear evening this week we set out to our favourite nature centre to take part in their Owl Prowl. With red filters on our torches, we walked quietly through the forest, the group leader playing the call of a screech owl as a lure. We did not see any owls in the dark night sky; however we heard the very distinctive call of a barred owl, which made Alexander's eyes pop open in amazement as he looked around to find the source of the strange noise.

This concluded a great day of animal discoveries. Earlier in the day we had been privileged to catch a rare daytime sight of a great horned owl, peering down at us from the trees. We had been alerted to its presence by a great ruckus caused by a rowdy bunch of crows. Apparently the owl was infringing on their feeding turf and had to be annoyed away. What a racket! After a few minutes the poor owl got the message and glided silently away to another part of the forest. Emma wanted to know where Sarah, Percy and Bill were. These are the names of three baby owls in the lovely book Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.

The same walk also revealed a red-headed woodpecker, tap tap tapping for grubs high in a dead pine tree, a heron flying in from the adjacent lake, a vulture scouring the forest floor for tasty titbits and a red-backed salamander skulking under a log.