Hot Winter Nights

Winter is a great time for viewing wildlife. Even in the cold, gray, wet weather that makes many of us cringe and stay indoors, much of the animal world stays active, and the absence of leaves on the trees makes wildlife easier to spot, especially birds. Some animals aren’t hindered by winter’s chill at all, instead finding it the perfect climate to “turn up the heat.” Believe it or not, winter is the best time of the year to observe several species of raptors that begin courtship and breeding even during the coldest and darkest months.

The Great Horned Owl is one of the earliest breeders in North America, beginning courtship calls as early as October and choosing a mate by December. The male attracts the female’s attention by puffing up his white throat and hooting while bowing to her. If the female is sufficiently impressed, she joins in the bowing and hooting, and the birds may remain mates for their entire lives. Breeding typically occurs in January or February with females laying one to four eggs that hatch in about seven weeks. Now is the best time of year to get out and look for these birds, particularly while the bare tree branches make it easier to spot their nests, which are often taken over from hawks, crows, or squirrels. In fact, here in Georgia these owls have already been spotted on their nests, used only when the females are brooding eggs and tending to their young. Be sure to look for the two ear tufts popping out from the top.

photo: Jim Wilson

Great Horned Owls are not the only owls getting “busy” this season. Barred Owls also begin reuniting with their mates and refurbishing or scouting for nest sites in the cold months of winter. I’ve been hearing the local pair of Barred Owls hooting it up in my neighborhood for the past month, and I have been fortunate to see them roosting together in our neighborhood park the past two winters. I will be keeping my eyes peeled again this season! At AWARE wildlife center where I volunteer, our pair of nonreleasable Barred Owls, Gazer and Tappy, have become increasingly vocal.  As is typical in the wild, Tappy offers food to Gazer, and they are frequently seen preening each other. Gazer must be impressed with Tappy’s attention–she laid her very first egg in late fall (though did not incubate it)!

My local Barred Owls roosting together last February.

AWARE’s educational owls Gazer and Tappy are frequently seen preening each other.

Bald eagles are also early breeders, typically building their nests and laying eggs by mid-February, even earlier in southern states. (During a recent trip to Florida, I saw two bald eagles on their nests on New Year’s Eve!) Eagle’s nests, usually made of sticks and other plant material and found in big trees near large bodies of water, are the largest nests of any bird in North America. These enormous structures can measure over nine feet in diameter and twenty feet in height and can weigh more than two tons! A pair of eagles will typically use the same nest for many successive years. Eagles have a spectacular courtship ritual involving vocalizations and acrobatic flights that sometimes include a spiraling freefall from great heights with interlocked talons. What a thrill it would be to see this amorous display!

Bald Eagle on a nest in Cedar Key, Florida — 12/31/13

Red-tailed hawks are also getting ready to breed at this time of year by building or refurbishing their nests of twigs, foliage, and other plant matter. Eggs are typically laid in March or April, depending on latitude. Like eagles, Red-tailed Hawks have dramatic aerial courtship displays. The male and female soar in circles calling with their unmistakable shrill, raspy cries. The male dives steeply then rises again, repeating this display several times. The display sometimes culminates with the pair clasping talons and plummeting in a spiral toward the ground before pulling away. Because Red-tailed Hawks are possibly the most common hawks in North America and are well-adapted to living in proximity to humans, careful observers are sure to be rewarded with sightings of these beautiful birds.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images

Witnessing these powerful birds is a reminder of what an incredibly diverse and magical planet we share. For those inclined to stay indoors in the winter months, several websites with live “nest cams” offer viewers the unique opportunity to watch these birds building nests, brooding eggs, and raising young in real time (see below for links), but how much more fascinating it is to witness it in person! So, before the leaves obscure the treetops, bundle up, grab a pair of binoculars, and keep your ears open and eyes toward the skies!

Recommended Nest Cams:

Watch Georgia’s beloved Berry College Eagles raise their young for the third year in a row. Mom is already incubating two eggs! Or check out the Atlanta Falcons (Peregrine, that is!).

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a trove of all sorts of information about birds and has nestcams for several species of birds. Tune in to this year’s livestream cameras here.

A Christmas Reconception

I recently rediscovered the following Lawrence Ferlinghetti poem on a blog I enjoy, http://radicalfarmwives.com/.  It takes some jabs at commercialized Christmas, and I thought it worth sharing here with those of you who appreciate nature’s gifts. Truly, life’s most beautiful treasures aren’t for sale. So, as we enjoy listening to carols, decorating trees, and opening presents this holiday, let’s take a moment to reflect on the amazing wonders nature bestows on us, as well as the greatest human gifts  — faith, hope, charity, and love.

CHRIST CLIMBED DOWN

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no rootless Christmas trees
hung with candycanes and breakable stars

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no gilded Christmas trees
and no tinsel Christmas trees
and no tinfoil Christmas trees
and no pink plastic Christmas trees
and no gold Christmas trees
and no black Christmas trees
and no powderblue Christmas trees
hung with electric candles
and encircled by tin electric trains
and clever cornball relatives

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
no intrepid Bible salesmen
covered the territory
in two-tone cadillacs
and where no Sears Roebuck crèches
complete with plastic babe in manger
arrived by parcel post
the babe by special delivery
and where no televised Wise Men
praised the Lord Calvert Whiskey

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
no fat handshaking stranger
in a red flannel suit
and a fake white beard
went around passing himself off
as some sort of North Pole saint
crossing the desert to Bethlehem
Pennsylvania
in a Volkswagen sled
drawn by rollicking Adirondack reindeer
with German names
and bearing sacks of Humble Gifts
from Saks Fifth Avenue
for everybody’s imagined Christ child

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
no Bing Crosby carolers
groaned of a tight Christmas
and where no Radio City angels
iceskated wingless
thru a winter wonderland
into a jinglebell heaven
daily at 8:30
with Midnight Mass matinees

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary’s womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody’s anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest
of Second Comings

*Note: I used to love teaching Ferlinghetti’s poems when I was a high school English teacher, not only because he creates such vivid images, but also because he makes a point to make his poems accessible to ordinary people, not just educated intellectuals. (He even writes about underwear!) A major influence on the Beat movement, Ferlinghetti, age 94, is still writing poems and staying involved with the San Francisco bookstore he opened in the 1950’s, City Lights. To learn more about his work, a good place to start is http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lawrence-ferlinghetti.

My Eco-centric Evolution

I’ve always liked nature and being outside. I was lucky to have a lot of opportunities to enjoy outdoor recreation while growing up (hiking, skiing, team sports, camping, kayaking), and I still get out and stay active. My college years at the University of Vermont instilled a strong sense of environmental responsibility in me, but my career path (teaching) didn’t lead me outdoors. While all of these experiences helped to shape me, I ultimately credit an injured baby chipmunk for starting me on my journey to a living a life more connected with nature.

A catalyst…

About four years ago in my late thirties, I was having an early “mid-life crisis” of sorts. Like many people, I was feeling like my best years and opportunities were behind me. A homemaker with a devoted, hard-working husband who regularly travels for work, I was filling my time with meeting the demands of the household, chairing PTA fundraisers at my children’s schools, volunteering at a cat shelter, and other activities. My children, then six and eight, were both in school full-time, but I was reluctant to return to a demanding career teaching high school English. Lacking a satisfying professional or creative outlet, I was most definitely feeling lost and depressed.

One afternoon, one of our indoor cats slipped outside when one of the kids left the porch door open. I only noticed the cat had escaped when motion out the window caught my eye and I turned to see her batting a ball of fur. The tiny chipmunk seemed stunned, but unscathed when I raced out and rescued it from the cat, but as night was falling, I decided to keep it safe overnight to make certain it was okay. In the morning, the chipmunk was most definitely NOT okay (cat saliva is toxic), so I quickly searched the internet for a wildlife rescue. I stumbled upon Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort (AWARE) and called to ask if they’d take the chipmunk. Driving to the center with the suffering creature on my lap, I decided I’d ask to volunteer and learn how to rehabilitate wildlife myself, if they would have me. Animals have always been an important part of my life, and I thought learning to work with wildlife might lift me out of the funk I’d been in.

Finding AWARE changed my life. Caring for wildlife that has been injured or orphaned by human activity makes me feel like I’m playing a small role in restoring the balance between people and wildlife. In addition, developing and presenting education programs about wildlife and conservation while working with our non-releasable wildlife ambassadors (raptors, bobcats, skunks, crows, an opossum, a snake, etc.) has taught me a tremendous amount about animals, ecology, and the environment. My experiences at AWARE have motivated me to earn my wildlife rehabilitator’s license and to seek knowledge in related fields. Rehabilitating birds, for example, compelled me to attend a weekend of workshops to learn more about songbirds and raptors. That weekend made an avid birder out of me. I’ve since joined my local Audubon chapter on several bird walks in my area. Last year, I learned to identify over 150 new bird species, and my yard list (number of species seen) is up to 45!                      

Teaching high school students about wildlife

Going beyond birds and mammals, the Master Naturalist class I recently completed brought to light the interconnectedness of all living things. During one class, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Haskell spoke about The Forest Unseen, which details the year he spent observing a one-meter patch of forest near his Tennessee home. Our instructor then challenged us to spend time sitting quietly in our own backyards and noting our impressions every day for a week. If a tiny patch of forest could inspire a prize-winning book about the wonders of nature, I was determined to find inspiration in my yard too! I discovered, indeed, that nature constantly offers up gifts if we stop and pay attention — the music of birdsong filling the air, the shade of a leafy canopy, the amusing antics of squirrels, the allure of the moon. Although I’d never thought my small suburban yard was particularly special, I gained a new appreciation for it that week. We can all tune in to the natural world as a source of comfort, inspiration, amazement, reflection, happiness, humor, energy, calm… We need only to step outside, or even just look out the window, and look closely at our surroundings.

Squirrels can be very amusing.

So this is my mission — to be aware of the wonders found right outside my door and to do my part to take care of them. Hopefully, others will be inspired to do the same. The Senegalese poet Baba Djoum wisely said, “In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.” The more I learn, the more my family tries to live responsibly and healthfully in a way that honors and conserves our planet. My family has adapted to my quirks – like pulling recyclable items out of trash cans and making our own toothpaste – and we’ve given up straws, juice boxes, new plastic bags, and other disposable items (more on these things to come!). We are FAR from perfect, but we are making a start. If we can inspire even a few people, and they inspire a few others, and so on, we will begin to see a significant change. We can do it! Hope you’ll join me in leading an eco-centric life!