Looking for the Owl Channel Blog? Click below please for the new location !: 2/7 to 2/8 Bunny #43 for breakfast, The Googabout returns, and another night closer to Hatch: )

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

2/7 to 2/8 Bunny #43 for breakfast, The Googabout returns, and another night closer to Hatch: )

2012 Clutch 2 theme: HEROES !
Overnight news:

Febuary 8th: Bunny # 43

6:29 to 6:33 pm Dale flyabout
7:22 pm Roy or MO
7:52 pm flew away
7:54 pm back up in tree really high
8:15 to perch and then gone
8:50 pm roy came and bonded

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coulee/sets/72157628845913893/

Thank you Couleedam!

11:55 Bonding
Midnight: Flyabout
1:43 am Bonding

Dale on Flyabout Screenshot by Vixn

Vxn's pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/litlvxn/sets/72157629227589529/with/6840093611/

2:36 am Roy is back
3:51 am Bonding

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68056695@N06/6840732815/in/photostream

3.52 off
No treats as yet - Rainy conditions !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68056695@N06/sets/72157629158103611/
Thank you NatOwlLover and Vixn!

5:15 am Rabbit delivery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30690443@N06/

Geek Lady's pix and video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuoEWBaVW8w&feature=youtu.be

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrdrake001/6841023945/in/photostream

Thank you Tresbien and GeekLady !

More travels from KathyGoog... The GoogAbout ! the journals of KathyGoog's travelabouts

Hello everyone,

First week of this trip is over, so I felt it was time to check in. Traveling to FL is not as exciting as heading cross country, but this is what has been happening so far:

Sunday~Jan 29th~1st day:

Starting out going west, the 1st 17 traffic lights that we come to, covering 36 miles, are ALL green! It was odd enough that we both noticed it! Seems like a good start. At 10:30 am we enter NY; an hour later, at 11:30 we cross the border into PA! We enter MD at 4:30 (at the Mason-Dixon line), WV at 4:45 and cross the state line into VA at 5:05pm! That's 6 states the 1st day out! From Harrisburg, PA, south on 81, thru MD, WV and into VA, it is one big & beautiful farm after another! We stop for the night in Harrisonburg, VA. At dinner we are surprised to see $44 food tab has 11% sales tax of $4.84 added on!! VA state tax is 5% & restaurants in cities can add up to another 6% that goes to local coffers!

Monday~Jan 30th~2nd day:

It is 28* in VA when we head out at 7:30 am! We enter NC at 11 am, and see the 1st motorcycle of our trip. As we cross the border into SC, we see the trips first cactus planted in someones landscape. We arrive in Charleston, SC at 4 pm, where we are going to stay for two nights. When we leave for dinner, we get on trolley to take us down to the waterfront. We have dinner at Hymans Seafood Co and walk back to the hotel, as temp is in the 70's!

Tuesday~Jan 31st~3rd day:

Cupcake Boutique in Charleston

I have been duped!!! There IS a history lesson for me in Charleston! After breakfast we take a ride & end up at Middleton Place; a plantation that has great gardens, but of course was torched by the North during the Civil War! Everyone just has to ask "Where y'all from?" Yikes!! We get safely out of there, I think because I stopped making eye contact. We go to the humongous outdoor downtown market and I shop, shop & shop. After dinner, we head back to hotel on foot and stop at The Cupcake Boutique. Can't imagine I will ever again spend $3.04 for a cupcake!

Wednesday~Feb 1st~4th day:

We are on the road at 8:30 am. Almost into GA and along both sides of highway, the deciduous trees are full of buds for this years leaves! It is a rainbow of yellows, oranges, reds and many different shades of green. It is 80* outside at 1:30 pm as we enter FL! When we are 60 miles north of Daytona, the 1st bugs start hitting the windshield. We arrive at in-laws house in Lake Suzy at 6 pm. After a great Italian meal, we sit & visit with them, along with Aunt & Uncle.

Thursday~Feb 2nd~5th day:

Heading to Boca Grande Beach~one of our favorites here in FL. The water is too cold for me to go into, 68*, but walking shoreline is good. It is more cloudy than sunny, but dozens of Pelicans amuse everyone with their head first, high spiral dives into water to catch lunch. Over & over & over; how many fish can one pelican eat? We get back to get ready for dinner & show at Vasani's Comedy Club. The comedian is Tammy Pescatelli from Last Comic Standing who is very funny!

Friday~Feb 3rd~6th day:

Took a nice long drive to Fort Myers Beach. As it was somewhat cloudy when we arrived, we decided to have an early lunch first & give the sun more time to come out. Had my 1st fish tacos~Who knew they would be so yummy? Finished, we return to car, get our beach stuff out, and as we take our 1st steps onto beach, the clouds open up with a downpour!!! We return to car, just in time to avoid the stampede of others running for shelter! We spend rest of afternoon looking at possible rental places on beach for next visit.

Saturday~Feb 4th~7th day:

Head out 1st thing this am for Everglades City Seafood Festival. Just before Alligator Alley, there are multiple 'Panther traffic' 'Panther next 3 miles" & 'Panther crossing' signs! Then, for miles along the side of the road, in front of the swampy everglades grass are dozens & dozens of alligators sunning themselves. I was praying for the rental car to not break down! The seafood fest was unlike anything we could have imagined! The food included anything from the water you can think of, and yes alligator also, although I wasn't brave enough for that! Hundreds of craftspeople & vendors selling lots of great things. Of course, the sun was out bright & strong today. We leave first thing in the morning for Key West~Super Bowl 46 party starts at our hotel at 4 pm!

12 barn owl fascinating facts

Discover 12 fascinating facts about the beautiful barn owl.
1 The barn owl was voted Britain’s favourite farmland bird by the public in an RSPB poll in July 2007.
2 Historically, the barn owl was Britain’s most common owl species, but today only one farm in about 75 can boast a barn owl nest.
3 Barn owls screech, not hoot (that’s tawny owls).
4 The barn owl can fly almost silently. This enables it to hear the slightest sounds made by its rodent prey hidden in deep vegetation while it’s flying up to three metres overhead.
5 The barn owl’s heart-shaped face collects sound in the same way as human ears. Its hearing is the most sensitive of any creature tested.
6 Barn owls are non-territorial. Adults live in overlapping home ranges, each one covering approximately 5,000 hectares. That’s a staggering 12,500 acres or 7,100 football pitches!
7 It’s not uncommon for barn owl chicks in the nest to feed each other. This behaviour is incredibly rare in birds.
8 In order to live and breed, a pair of barn owls needs to eat around 5,000 prey items a year. These are mainly field voles, wood mice, and common shrews.
9 Though barn owls are capable of producing three broods of five to seven young each year, most breed only once and produce, on average, only two and a half young. 29 per cent of nests produce no young at all.
10 91 per cent of barn owls post-mortemed were found to contain rat poison. Some owls die as a direct result of consuming rodenticides, but most contain sub-lethal doses. The effects of this remain unknown.
11 In a typical year, around 3,000 juvenile barn owls are killed on Britain’s motorways, dual carriageways and other trunk roads. That’s about a third of all the young that fledge.
12 Everyone can help barn owls. Leave a patch of rough grassland to grow wild thus creating habitat for voles, erect a super-safe deep nest box, volunteer for your local barn owl group, switch to non-toxic rodent control