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Home My WebLink AboutDecember 4, 1980 - Owls--the Night Flyers December 4, 19$0 . _._ - -- _.W..__ ��je �uffoY� �irne� Page ��A ■ , , ��: �r wis the N�ght FI � -- yers . \. �' .1 a�n�.�» ,t".� ky o�.,z ..t :� I �2 • 3 Y� fi I A week or so ago on a glorious clear � < �'},�� + �x< x , ��`�aa niKht with a full moon, I walked the dog �� :: �� P,� `fi � and,because of the beauty of the night, our `'` ' ' � ��.� �0�� [our�sfrelched a bit farther than usual. �, �� ' �ti- , �: , .. .:: � T? 'l'his time, besides his regular stops '"�'�`' �`� �., <i�unK the way, we headed down past the ' °�> � �.u•den by the old black cherry trees �( �{ o '' � ' �+lnngside the pond. OO � ��° L7�Ll � ` � o- '1'he garden now, mostly withered by ' I�;�si was a mute reminder there still was � � b'�`� �,�.,,�a .,�;� w�,rk to be done before the real cold of k, �, � Gvinter set in. r"� �` x � ; .., ,.,;.: . .... standing for a time while the insects and '�..� "1'he long white sentinels of beehives fungi attack it. Here the woodpeckers, ; '� � ' w �, �� ,toud out in the shimmering glow of nuthatches, chickadees and others live '- � �A,�`� � ` m<>onlight. How my bees produced for me yeai• round on the insects buried in the � � ` a r t his � year! Hundreds of pounds of their tree. It is their food supply, �olden surplus now lie stored in bottles in Then somewhere along in time lhe tree = "�� cabinets above the kitchen wood stove. comes ci�ashing down. The birds still feast �'\ Warm and fluid, it will keep for later use, on it but now,slowly,ever so slowly, decay ' `��;, ;��'��,.� ' pi-esei•ved by nature's own seci•et. sets in more i•apidly whei•e the tf•ee and the � "�'�'"��"' " `°ei' =°" �'��°�` As the old saying goes "You could read moist soil come in contaet with each other. SCREECH OWLS--OL�][' mOst COmI71on OWI, hear.d but seldom seen. by moonlight" that night. Usually at night In time what once came from the soil and the dog, i•unning free, appears only as an blossomed into a beautiful ti-ee now Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh occasional ghostly image, but on that retui�ns to the soil enriching i(for all. ni�ht, undei• the silvery moon, I could Most of the owls we think of owe their follow his eveiy move. f� ��0� alle�,�ance lo ti�ees for theii• nestin� shel- ;,� � As we approached the big, old cherry tei�. Yet (hei•e are some that have adapted � ��=� t ree a bird flew by,light in color,small and to man's buildin�s and now almost entirely ■ � �~��` '°�� ' ��ithout a sound. It was unusual,but I knew use them for nesting sites. I'm speaking of M�'�work �� foc• sui•e it was an owl, for they have the the bai•n owl.This monkey-faced owl is one � l '��'"`f� ' ..�:._:�- ability to fly noiselessly so lhat they can of the greatest of all mousei•s and will appi-oach their pr•ey. Not far up in the out-huntanycat.In"TheBookofOwls"by STAIRS, LOUVERS, BUILT-IN S, DOORS, fangle of limbs of the old cherry there is a Lewis Wayne Wa►ker the author speaks o[ SPECIAL STORM SASH WINDOWS box I put up years a�o. '1'he enti•ance is watching a nestin� bai•n owl through its about three inches across. It was designed bronding period. Fr-om the hatching of the big enough for a hawk or owl to use. first chick till the last one left the nest, 758 �� '��1ic'`� �`�� It was used by a pair of kestrels, or rodents and one bird were brought in to sparrow hawks,years ago, but I thought it feed the young. The biggest catch was 27 Bv��N� b' CONSTRUCTION 765-2473 unoccupied now, rodents in one night.Stack that up against Owls l.ike Old Trees your best four-fooled friend and you'll see Could it be that now this screech owl is why owls rank so high in keeping down the usinK it to roost in? It flew from the very population of these pesty litUe fellows. li•ee where the box was. I imagined it Few of us i•ealize that there ai•e owls sitting there with a mouse dangling limp continually about us, and fewer still ever � fi•om its claws, just about to have its have the pleasure of seeing them.They ar•e ��dustrial ft Farm Equ�pmen� evening meal when we came along and as m,ysterious as fhe night itself. Yet if `�'� _�, disturbed it. I thought of tomorrow and your ears are in lune with the outside �Y�" � how 1 could get a laddei•up and look in and wor�ld you may on a quiet evening hear the � ��t�a� see if the owl was thei•e. But something screech owl off in the woods calling. Its ��' � .� � �� i��side of ine said"Na". I'l; leave it as it is. war•bling whistle is a true call of the wild. � - ' � .in �y� � F'rom now on when walking by I'll have P.S.Ask your library to get you a record `'�� - � �` Route 58 that special feeling of wondering whether of owl calls. It's a fun thing to do and b � ��'��=��+ ROLLE BROS � � g�x �5s ��r not the owl is there. Y �"` ^�".;- . F+•�-.��head, N.V hearing their various voices you'll start to � ` �� Phone �z�asss Screech owls are having a difficull ti►rae realize what a variety of treals the outside �� ^ Your authorized finding nesfir�sites these days because of world has in store for you. "` SPERRY NEW HOLLAND dealer fhe scarcity of old trees that seem to be PAULSTOUTN:M3URGII fallin�to the woodcutter's ax. .Just recently I had the pleasw-e of accompanying a group of people to one of ��ur last undisturbed woodlands in the "1'own of Southotd. Everywhere you looked there were dead Crees, almost as though (he forest was dying. Yet the story is quite simple.In a virgi❑ woodland there is a pi•ocess of growing and dying going on all the time and if the wood happens to be � � � 'S f cedar, iocust, oak or cheriy that dces not � � rc�t quickly, these skeleton trees show O�� ' � ' � �. (hemselves everywhere. Around our homes we tidy the woods up and take the dead out. Therefore many feel this is the nalural way. When in truth we have ea u�j e ac(ually manicui•ed the woods by eliminat- � in�; the dead and fallen trees. Part Of Natural Cycle ngain iYs part of the nafural cycle of We Carry A Full Li�te Of l3ird Feeders & Bird Houses things. After a tree dies it remains � Feathered Friend Wild B�� QQd ,fli�� •wholly natural grain V�� R�� mixture�attracts many 20 Ibs $399 ,�, � different species to your 50 Ibs S 95 fe9 b4•59 �OR � feeder{77-5015,10,03) fe9 $9 �5 101bs $/�29 G eorge J. 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