One Good Thing About Winter

This year it seems that winter will never end.  It is one snow and cold event after another.  So I decided to look for the silver lining.  I wanted to create a list of 10 good things about winter....

and if you can think of others, please let me know.  But I only came up with one.  

In winter, we in the midwest get a chance to see birds that only occur here in the winter....like the Short-eared Owls.  These medium sized owls are really not that distinctive in appearance.  They are mostly mottled brown and have a large round head, like most owls.  They have much smaller tufts of feathers....that create the "ears"...than the Long-eared Owl.  In fact they are hardly noticeable.  But what is distinctive about these owls is their "floppy" flight.  With long wings, they fly close to the ground in open grasslands, flapping almost like a bat.





photo from Wikipedia

Each winter I visit the reclaimed strip mine ground of the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Illinois to catch a glimpse of these owls as they hunt in the fields at dusk.

http://www.cvaltd.com/site2/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/World-Shooting-Complex-1.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year I was not disappointed.  The owls had returned.  I counted about 6 or 7 of them as they swooped around the car and came to rest on the lamp posts around the complex.  As the last rays of sun hit the earth, I rolled down the window to get a better look.  I was surprised to hear something that sounded like a dog barking.  Braving the cold, I kept the window down for several minutes to locate the sound.  Finally it occurred to me; it was the owls!!

This distinctive sound was such a treat.  The  Short-eared Owl bark was new to me, and I love learning new things about nature.  Perhaps, the 10 good things about winter should be the 10 new things I have learned about nature...that seems more doable to me. 

10 new things I learned about nature this winter:
1. Short-eared owl bark
2. Visual image of eagles on ice...see previous post "Where is the Best Place to Eagle Watch"
3. Blue Jays mimic Red-tailed Hawks...see previous post  "Bird Song Wonders"
4. Bobcats live in a tree stump on my property...see previous post "Sub-Zero Hike"
I'll work on the rest of this list.
 

So maybe winter isn't that bad after all.  Still, I can't wait until spring because I'm sure I will learn many more things as I get outside more.  Until then, I have the list to complete.