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Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 11:44:26, May 21st 2013 - airmaxs52274 - Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your a ... [Read More]
- 5:56:33, May 18th 2013 - modgudur - I guess the child is anti-gun control since Obama went to all that trouble ... [Read More]
- 9:27:41, May 16th 2013 - caal girl - Nice outfit on you. I loved some of the dresses but am holding my breath ... [Read More]
- 2:03:34, May 14th 2013 - - Thanks for sharing the trip with us! ... [Read More]
- 4:12:01, May 9th 2013 - Amanda Ziebell - Wow! Thanks to the Fillmore County Journal for this kind story. For a ... [Read More]
- 11:47:30, May 7th 2013 - EW - ramble.....ramble.....ramble..... ... [Read More]
- 10:25:25, May 7th 2013 - Thunder6 - Great article! I love to see the Youth of Fillmore County receiveing acco ... [Read More]
- 6:52:10, May 6th 2013 - Jason Sethre, Publisher of Fillmore County Journal & Olmsted County Journal - Maryh, ... [Read More]
- 7:29:56, May 5th 2013 - maryh - Where are OCJ's available for pickup...other than at the new office? ... [Read More]
- 2:41:47, May 3rd 2013 - Remark1976 - Mrs. Buckbee, I just looked up Senate File 796 and in it there are said p ... [Read More]
29
How will you keep your kids busy this summer vacation?
Houston, we have owlets!
Thu, Mar 21st, 2013
Posted in All The Great Outdoors
Posted in All The Great Outdoors
Comments
By Karla Bloem
A white, fuzzy, wobbly head reaches upwards through a fluffy curtain of feathers to be met by a tiny bit of a pocket gopher, gently rubbed against its beak. Iris, the tiny owlet’s mother, utters quiet chitters of encouragement to the day-old owlet as it grabs the tidbit and swallows, eyes still tightly shut.
Iris the Great Horned Owl can’t see out of her right eye due to a puncture to her eye that occurred around 2006. Rusty, her mate, is also blind in his right eye after being hit by a car around 2007. Their lack of binocular vision prevents them from being able to hunt well enough to live in the wild, so they live in captivity in rural Houston, Minnesota as part of a vocal study on their species being conducted by Karla Bloem.
Bloem is the Director/Naturalist of the Houston Nature Center, Coordinator of the International Festival of Owls, and the new Executive Director of the up-and-coming International Owl Center. She has been studying Great Horned Owl vocalizations since 2004, thanks to her education owl Alice and the wild owls that frequent her yard.
Rusty and Iris are giving a new level of insight into Great Horned Owl behavior and vocalizations not otherwise possible with wild owls. They live in a large breeding and release training complex that is 96 feet long and outfitted with six security cameras and microphones. This allows Bloem to watch Rusty, Iris, and owlets without them knowing they are being watched. It also allows anyone in the world with an internet connection to view them too.
Bloem hopes that viewers will not only enjoy watching the owls raise their young and learn something along the way, but that viewers will submit observations of interesting behaviors and vocalizations to help her with her study.
Owlet number one hatched on March 15 with owlet number two due Monday, March 18 and number three expected Thursday, March 21. The eggs were laid on February 10, 13, and 16 and require 33 days of incubation before hatching.
The owlets will eventually be given names and leg bands. Once they have developed their full territorial hoots they will be released to the wild.
You can watch the live video feeds at www.internationalowlcenter.org: click on “Rusty and Iris Cam” on the left. You can find video and photo highlights on the blog at www.alicetheowl.blogspot.com and on Alice’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AliceTheGreatHornedOwl.
A white, fuzzy, wobbly head reaches upwards through a fluffy curtain of feathers to be met by a tiny bit of a pocket gopher, gently rubbed against its beak. Iris, the tiny owlet’s mother, utters quiet chitters of encouragement to the day-old owlet as it grabs the tidbit and swallows, eyes still tightly shut.
Iris the Great Horned Owl can’t see out of her right eye due to a puncture to her eye that occurred around 2006. Rusty, her mate, is also blind in his right eye after being hit by a car around 2007. Their lack of binocular vision prevents them from being able to hunt well enough to live in the wild, so they live in captivity in rural Houston, Minnesota as part of a vocal study on their species being conducted by Karla Bloem.
Bloem is the Director/Naturalist of the Houston Nature Center, Coordinator of the International Festival of Owls, and the new Executive Director of the up-and-coming International Owl Center. She has been studying Great Horned Owl vocalizations since 2004, thanks to her education owl Alice and the wild owls that frequent her yard.
Rusty and Iris are giving a new level of insight into Great Horned Owl behavior and vocalizations not otherwise possible with wild owls. They live in a large breeding and release training complex that is 96 feet long and outfitted with six security cameras and microphones. This allows Bloem to watch Rusty, Iris, and owlets without them knowing they are being watched. It also allows anyone in the world with an internet connection to view them too.
Bloem hopes that viewers will not only enjoy watching the owls raise their young and learn something along the way, but that viewers will submit observations of interesting behaviors and vocalizations to help her with her study.
Owlet number one hatched on March 15 with owlet number two due Monday, March 18 and number three expected Thursday, March 21. The eggs were laid on February 10, 13, and 16 and require 33 days of incubation before hatching.
The owlets will eventually be given names and leg bands. Once they have developed their full territorial hoots they will be released to the wild.
You can watch the live video feeds at www.internationalowlcenter.org: click on “Rusty and Iris Cam” on the left. You can find video and photo highlights on the blog at www.alicetheowl.blogspot.com and on Alice’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AliceTheGreatHornedOwl.
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