Big Night Stalker

Taking the dog out for a bedtime potty call nowadays it is not unusual to hear the call of the call of the Great Horned Owl as dusk has settled upon the forest.  The horned owl is common around here and it is quite distinctive.  

This is one of the earliest nesting birds in Wisconsin; laying eggs in January and February.  Mated pairs raise one brood per year in an abandoned cavity nest, nest of a great blue heron or crow or even in the stump end of a large broken branch.

The horned owl is particularly gutsy being one of the few birds of prey that will take porcupines and skunks.  Plucky bird the horned own is - which is why it is sometimes called the Flying Tiger.  This bird of prey sports silent wing feathers, hearing so acute it can hear a rodent beneath the snow, bright yellow eyes and cannot turn it's head completely around.  Notably, it has a wingspan of up to four feet.  Why is that important?  This trail is groomed with a Rhino Bush Hog and a five foot wide cutting deck - at ground level.  Tree branches make the actual trail a bit narrower.

Helping to identify the fleeting appearance and disappearance of this night stalker.

There and gone again; in a ghostly flash.....