Just this morning a Great Horned Owl was spotted here at the
Sanctuary! The Great Horned Owl is New
Jersey ’s most impressive owl. Standing 18-25 inches
tall, with a wingspan of 48 to 60 inches, it is indeed a powerful and fearless
bird of prey. Its distinguishing characteristics are long feather tufts, large
bright yellow eyes, and a white “collar” around the throat. Its deep-pitched,
booming notes, “Whoo-whoo-whoo”, repeated three to eight times, can be heard
for miles on a still night. We had spotting scopes trained on this beautiful bird and were delighted to see so many people come out to see the owl!
If you are interested in learning more about the
Great Horned Owl and other birds please join us at one of our spring programs.
Learning the Birds by Song is a birding by ear workshop for birdwatchers of all
levels. March 13th and 20th will cover the winter
resident birds, April 3rd and 10th will cover the early
migrant birds, and April 17th and 24th will cover the
summer resident birds. This workshop is
run by, former board member and long-time NJ Audubon volunteer, Randy Little.
Randy learned birding as a youngster under the wings of the Cornell Laboratory
of Ornithology’s founders, and is a master at recording bird songs for the
Cornell Lab. For the kids, we have an upcoming workshop on February 9 called
Give a Hoot!
Photo taken by Joseph F. Pescatore:
the spring 2013 featured photographer at the SHWS Wild Life Gallery
Photo taken by Dorothy Smullen
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