Saturday, August 08, 2009

wildlife spotted

DSC05682 Doug found this cute little froggy living in the bubbler of our fountain. We enjoyed watching him bob up and down for air.

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Courtney, our frog-loving granddaughter would have been mesmerized watching him…just as we were!

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Later this afternoon, I spotted this owl, very much awake in the middle of the day, right outside my family room window! It is a barred owl, the only owl in Florida with brown eyes. A fact that I can appreciate. (All the rest have yellow.) It is called a barred owl because the chest is barred horizontally. It goes by other names, including eight hooter, rain owl, wood owl, striped owl and also hoot owl. It is also the species most likely to be active during the day. This bird was huge. I read that they are normally about 17 inches tall with a 44 inch wingspan. This bird seemed every bit of that! Barred owls mate for life and generally occupy the same nest every year. Their favorite meal is mice. Welcome to the Birdhouse!

1 comment:

Rae said...

Rand would have loved watching the frog too! Come to think of it she would really enjoy the owl as well!