A Friend Said Hello Today...

Well actually he asked me "who cooks for you? who cooks for you all?" Yep, I ran into a pair of Barred Owls today, much to my delight. I LOVE owls!! I don't really know if it's possible not to love them...Anyway, Rob and I went over to Mogadore Reservoir after class to get a hike in.  I wanted to scope the waterfowl scene mostly, but I'm always looking for what comes my way in nature. Barred Owls are very "friendly" seeming owls, who usually allow a pretty close approach, unlike their evil cousins, Great-horned Owls.  This is one reason to love them.  Plus they have those big dark eyes and they just look friendly.  I'm sure smaller vertebrates wouldn't agree with me.

While admiring a beautiful specimen of Tilia americana (American Basswood), I stopped dead in my tracks after hearing the call.  "Barred Owl!" we quickly turned around and headed that direction.  The male (usually the deeper call) called twice, and then the female called back. Rob and I split up a bit to look around, and somehow I managed to spot one of the birds high up in a Red Pine (presumably the female). From this photo you can get an idea of how well she was camouflaged.

It is very likely that this pair of owls have their nest site selected already (hopefully near where I found them!) and that the female will be laying eggs soon.  Barred Owls do not build their own nests, instead, they use natural (or man-made) cavities, or they will take up an old hawk, crow, or squirrel nest.  Since there are many squirrel and crow nests around here, I am assuming that these owls will adopt one. I can only hope, and I will be checking on them periodically to see if I can't locate the nest!

Barred Owls prefer to be near wetlands. Pre-settlement Ohio was perfect territory for this species, since about 97% of the land was forest, and many swamp forests existed, as well as other forest types which contained streams, ponds etc.  Within swamp forests, one of my favorite early Spring blooming plants is Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus).  We also saw many of these poking out of the mud today.  These can be seen opening up in February even.  In a few weeks, you won't be able to see the ground here because the leaves of this plant are huge and cover the swampy soil.

Yes, that IS a flower inside that beautiful reddish purple shell-looking thing.

The proper terminology for these parts of the plant are the spadix (inside flowering potion) and the spathe (outer shell).  It is always fascinating to come upon a large population of Skunk Cabbage in mid-bloom, because these hardy plants pop up everywhere in the wet soil.  Soon the leaves start bursting out, then by late Spring, the forest floor containing them is transformed. Here are two photos from my property out in Mesopotamia of what it will look like in early April, then early May.

4/11/2009

5/10/2009

Sorry for the wonderful weather teaser, I just wanted to show these photographs!  We have so many things to look forward to, but this full-bloomed green May scene is the climax in my opinion!

Lastly, to end this story up, I will share a photo of the reservoir.  As we came out of the woods, the sky was looking rather beautiful and glowing blue. Two Canada Geese are also seen silhouetted in the photo.