February 12, 2019

Owl Prowl at Caledon was a Hoot

The Central Rappahannock Master Naturalists were able to participate in a special program for owls at Caledon State Park.  One of the park rangers, Mike Callahan, led a very fascinating program on local owls.  He taught us owl calls, their biology, food sources, habitat and other facts.  After the informative classroom session, we headed outside onto a wagon.


The night was clear, with thousands of twinkling stars.  Various constellations were easily identified and pointed out.  This definitely was not summer time, well bundled up with hand warmers, hot cocoa and blankets we left the warmth of the park visitor center into very chilly woods.

Our first stop was for the Barred Owl, Mike making his first call "Who cooks for you?  Who cools for you - all?" with the "all" dropping almost to a squawk.  After a few minutes, there was a response, a fly by, observation by the owl through flying from one tree to the next.  Then after a flight right over our heads he settled down on a tree not far from the wagon and responded to Mike's call.  The owl was quite vocal and with a quick light from a flashlight we were able to view him in all his glory.  

Our second stop, Mike called for Eastern Screech Owls. Their call is more of a whinny, not a screech.  Mike needed some moisture and tipped his head back to make a whistle/whinny sound.  A small owl, with color variants of gray or red do not usually reveal themselves due to predatory nature of larger owls.  While we did not see them, we definitely heard them.  Before long we were surrounded by three owls calling back and forth to Mike.   

Our final stop was out by the Potomac River.  Mike called for the Great Horned Owl, "Hoo- h'hooooo-hoo-hoo".  He called for well over five minutes.  About to give up, we heard a faint answer in the distance.  Mike continued to call, the Great Horned Owl continued to answer.  Although I am pretty sure if we could interpret owl he responded with, "hey great to hear from you, but it is cold, late and I am not flying all the way over there."  With that we headed back.

We were all pretty chilled by the time we arrived back to the visitors center.  Another cup of hot cocoa, new found knowledge and some owl calling skills we ended for the evening.  One of the most interesting things I have participated in, seeing these magnificent birds. 

On a final note, I have been practicing the owl calls at home.......much to the chagrin of my dog and husband. 


1 comment:

  1. Love this! That's so great that you got to hear all 3 species calling back to you!

    ReplyDelete