The Great Horned Owl

 Hello!

Today I want to talk about the largest owl in the Americas -

The Great Horned Owl

Photo taken at Mountsberg Raptor Centre; WordPress.com

Or is it the largest?

Well, that depends.

It depends on whether you are talking 

height,

weight,

wingspan

or male or female!

Great Grey Owl lands on photographer’s camera

If you are counting height as the largest,

then the Great Grey Owl is tallest

at 24” - 33”

averaging 27 inches.

But…

Posted by Nataly Paige, Pinterest

Great Horned Owl in flight

If you are counting wingspan as the largest

then the Great Horned Owl is biggest!

(Except for the exceptions of course.)

Great Horned Owl

Wingspan: 3-5 feet

Weight average: 1.4 kg

Height: average 22 inches

Female is quite a bit heavier.

Great Grey Owl

Wingspan: 1-5 feet

(Averages at just under 3 feet)

Weight average: 1.1 kg

Height: average 27 inches high

Great Horned Owl, Pinterest

Problem:

Different web sites and different experts

have different opinions on these numbers!

Overall however The Great Horned Owl seemed to have the most votes as the largest owl in the Americas,

and is one of the top 4 largest owls in the world.

And I have one that sits on my fence every night

12 midnight

and hoots away for up to 35 minutes!

Wow.

Shannon Holder, Pinterest

He also likes to sit on our neighbor’s roof and hoot,

sometimes just as the sun is rising.

Sometimes he sits on our roof.

In the very early Spring he will sit on our fence 

and hoot…

and then we hear a second hoot 

from a different owl!

His mate is vocalizing with him!

They have mated since early January.

Every year they use a nest across the street from us.

It is on the top of a very high pole.

Valerie Redmon, Pinterest

Great Horned Owls generally do not build their own nests. They like to use other raptors’ nests,

such as an eagle’s or a hawk’s nest 

that are built out of sticks.

Posted by justjodi on Pinterest

A GHO nest usually has 2-4 eggs in it.

The GH Owls are very adaptable and can live just about anywhere- orchard, desert, forest, woodland, or swamp.

I believe this is probably part of the reason they are not currently endangered - because they have learned how to adapt to their surroundings.

In the wild Great Horned Owls live about 13 years.

In capture most GHO have a lifespan of 

around 29 years.

Owlets (baby owls!) have only a 50% chance of surviving.

Cgander Photography

All owls are protected though,

and it is a punishable crime to hurt or kill one.

what-when-how.com

Owls can see in almost complete darkness.

The large facial disks around the eyes actually funnel sound waves to the owl’s ears.

They have excellent hearing.

Photo by Susan Newgewirtz

An owl has an almost silent flight.

This is due to the shape of their feathers.

They have a home range of about 1.5 square miles,

and do not migrate.

I have some fun owl things to do next.

A coloring page for you -

A mask for you to color and cut out -

www..firstpalette.com

Here are a couple different ways you can draw your own owl -

Exploring Nature Science Resources

You know I love zentangles, so I must include a couple of those!

Unique coloring book page (mohiminul12)

Best Coloring Pages

Want to draw your own?

You can use this outline to start -

Muse Printables

This next one is an embroidery pattern from Workbasket magazine

August, 1981 -

Here is a tuck-quilt kit -

Tuck-N-Go Crafts

You can get these adorable crochet owls from Moji-Moji Designs -

I hope you have learned something new about these wonderful owls,

I know I have!

‘Til next time,

inkspired

Artist Robert Bateman

Some of the websites I gathered information from, in no particular order:

fieldguide.my.gov

zooidaho.org

5dzwildlifeexplorers.org

Pinterest

great horned owl.net

Wikipedia.org

abcbirds.org

School's Out - time for summer doings

Paqja

'Peace" in Albanian

Albanian coin cut-out

www.petsalad.etsy.com

School's out and it's time to cram all the fun you can get into just 3 short months.  Or, if you are like the schools here, you have 2 1/2 months, or even a week less than that!

So not fair....

:0)

BUT

let's find some fun things to do to fill all that glorious 'empty' space!

Blue Eye Spring, Albania

www.sipatours.com

If you can, find a peaceful place where you can hear the birds sing,

the water ripple and dance

the crickets are chirping

and there is a gentle breeze.

Oh,

and lots of sun!!!

Sometimes the places are right outside your window....

c.1881

or in your backyard....

vintage illustration

Sometimes you have to travel a bit....

Nooroo Spring Mount Wilson Blue Mountains, Australia

photo cred unknown

That's okay!

Our lives were meant to include at least a bit of nature as often as possible.

Summer is a great time to explore.

vintage bicycling Spanish card

Now that you are outside, there are many things to do...

like -

c.1906

FISHING!

or -

vintage card with Donald Duck

GOLFING!

or -

Damba, Ghana Festival

www.yakubufamghana.blogspot.com

BANGING ON SOME DRUMS!

(Note: I reserved this as an outside activity!!!)

How about.....

c.1907

RIDING A HORSE!

or you could -

photo cred unknown

WATCH A LIGHTNING STORM!

Don't forget to include some friends -

Egyptian children

www.greenprophet.com

This should include lots of laughing -

Indian/Gypsy dress at Masala Baby Clothing line

www.clothingline.blogspot.babbe.com

Aren't friends just great?

Here are some ways to do things with friends you already have,

or

things to do with a new friend -

daisy chain with bee necklace by inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

Learn how to bead!

The daisy chain is a favorite of mine -

I find beading sooooo relaxing.

vintage embroidery pattern

Learn how to embroider!

It's a great carry-along craft,

and is fun to do with a Grandparent or brother/sister too!

Get out the crayons and paper!

This sweet robin can get you started.

After you finish coloring her, why not add a tree?

Draw a baby bird nest,

and some more leaves.

Wouldn't flowers at the base look terrific?

Time for scissors and paper scraps!

http://www.haru.etsy.com/

Cut squares from your paper scraps and form each piece into a cone shape, fastening them closed with scotch type tape.

Experiment!

Depending on the size of your squares will determine the size of your cones.

You can also cut the edges

with all those fun decorative scissors that are out there.

You can double layer the cones like the wonderful etsy artist did above.

Try a mix of bright summer colors.

Now cut a large cardboard circle for the wreath shaped backing

or

you can purchase a styrofoam type wreath.

Using a heavy glue (like Aleene's Tacky Glue, or...)

start gluing the cones together against the base.

You could also try using a stapler to attach cones to each other.

Using a styrofoam wreath base?

Poke a hole in the base first with the tip of a table knife, or the end of a spoon (not the bowl part).

Are the kids old enough to use a low-temp glue gun?

That would work great!

Send me pictures!

:0)

Still got those scissors and paper scraps out?

Let's make party hat invitations

or just pretty hat cards for everyday!

by inkspired

using patterns from Back Street Designs, Inc.

Here is the hat pattern -

Next is the pattern for an inner lining -

You can piece the patterns together to make an envelope just for these cards -

or you can size it just a little smaller and use a regular long envelope

(the actual name is escaping me right now, but they are very common).

by inkspired

Use all those scraps of scrapbooking paper,

and use an inner lining for added sturdiness

or

card stock

or

patterned card stock on one side

or

how about some wallpaper samples?

Be creative and use up what you have - no need to go buy new stuff.

hat cards by inkspired

Now comes the fun part of embellishing!

I have used scraps of ribbon, lace, little silk flowers,

paper punched flowers, rick rack, stickers, small stamped images

...there's no rules on what you can add!

For a nice finish, I wrap the ribbon/lace around to the back side

and use strapping tape to hold it in place.

This is for when I am using a liner.

Then I place the liner over it all to hide all the loose ends.

Otherwise I try to make it look as neat as possible,

cutting the ribbon ends at a diagonal,

and using either glue or scotch tape.

hat cards by inkspired

Check out my photos and you will see lots of different styles.

On some of the hats in this photo you can see peeking out from under the brim

'I can do everything through Him'

These were made for a ladies' tea at my church and were set at each place.

To add my heavier items I still use Aleene's Tacky glue

and hold it in place with a clothspin until it is dry.

If you are more of a hot glue gun type person, that would also work.

hat cards by inkspired

Maybe these hats from the Kentucky Derby 2012 will inspire you!

Tamara Sorrell Austin

photo cred: Mark Humphrey

Kimberly Scott of Albany Georgia

'The Run for the Roses'

photo cred: Michael Conroy

138th Kentucky Derby

photo cred: Jeff Haynes

photo cred: Jeff Haynes

photo cred: John Gress

Kentucky Derby 2012 at Churchill Downs Louisville, KY

photo cred: Jeff Haynes

Well, those should get your creative juices flowing!

I will be having more Summer Activities in future blogs.

It's such a fun subject!

'Butterflies' original Collage Art Doll by inkspired

See you later!

Be sure and share photos with me if you can -

I would love to see your creations!

If you would like me to post them, just let me know.

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.myinkspired.com/

http://www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com/

http://www.collagepaperpainting.com/

note: 6/11/2012
You can find 'lilies of the valley' here:
http://inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/meanings-of-flowers-intro-and-may.html

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