Today, we went to the Topsfield Fair, the oldest fair in the country, which had a display on Susan's favorite birds. I thought I'd make this post a test of her skills (and I think this is an easy one). Susan, tell us about these birds...
My favorite other photo from today's journey into New England agriculture. I like the looks of the nuzzling cows, but something tells me I'll leave the animal husbandry to Susan after this post!
4 comments:
Oh, Cathy, I just love you absolutely to pieces for this post!
I get to show off my knowledge! Okay, here goes:
1. Long- eared owl
(Asio otus)
A bird of temperate forests,roosts and nests in trees by day and hunts in open areas by night. Though widespread and relatively common in its range, it is rarely seen. I haven't seen one in the wild...yet.
2. Barred owl (one of my favorites!)
(Strix varia)
A large owl of extensive woodlands, the Barred Owl is familiar for its distinctive "who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all" hooting. We have one living in our woods, and one night, it landed on our bird feeder post. They look huge, but it's all feathers. Get them wet, and they remind you of a freshly bathed cat.
3. Peregrine Falcon
(Falco peregrinus)
Powerful and fast-flying, the Peregrine Falcon hunts medium-sized birds, dropping down on them from high above in a spectacular stoop. Almost exterminated from eastern North America by pesticide poisoning in the middle 20th century, restoration efforts have made it a regular, if still uncommon sight in many large cities. The word Peregrine means "wanderer". Case in point: Our program peregrine, Lucy, was hatched in Pittsburg, PA and flew all the way to the greater Cincinnati airport when she hit something, fracturing her wings. We know that she was from PA because as a nestling, she was banded (a steel band around the leg of a bird stamped with an ID number). When she was found, we looked up her ID number.
Thanks, Cathy, for letting me show off my new bird smarts.
Love ya, love ya, love ya!
Don't know much about cows, though. They eat grass, they make milk.....
okay, I'm out.
By the way: Was it cold? The birds are fluffed out. (Birds do that to increase the insulating quality of their feathers...it's like us wearing a fluffy down vest.)
Susan, thanks for the information! I knew you'd knock this one out of the park. Thanks to you, I knew that one of these birds was a barred owl because I remember you mentioning them in your blog.
As for the temperature...it was a little chilly on Saturday, probably around 60 degrees...not enough for a fluffy vest, but chilly in the shade (or under the tent where these birds were kept.)
Nice job!!
Susan rocks!
;-)
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