...Merry Christmas!




In keeping with the raptor theme, the diurnal hawk is replaced by the nocturnal owl.
Long-eared Owls show up in the Park with great reliability each December. Whether it’s wisdom that brings them is hard to say. Maybe they really do follow the stars, or perhaps it’s the Earth’s magnetic field, or some scent of the season too subtle for us to detect, but their site fidelity is somehow comforting to those who await their arrival. They bring no presents other than their presence, yet that seems to us a great gift. Often they roost high in the pines, well-hidden from prying eyes, but this one was particularly obliging, perched low, providing an unobstructed view, and (with some slight embellishment,) a perfect Christmas card.
Let’s hope it finds a mouse under its tree.