Screeech!

So I recently celebrated a birthday. Never mind which one. . .

Mr. Ken says to me, “How about we celebrate your birthday by going to a talk on owls? There will even be live owls there!” Um, okay. I’m really not a bird person, chipmunks yes, but not birds.

I was a bit apprehensive since I had visions of owls flying all over the room and getting in my hair. (Oh wait, that’s bats.) But still, do I really want to be in a room with flying wild creatures? I was getting ready to practice ducking and hiding under my coat, should an owl come anywhere within 100 feet of me.

The talk turned out to be fascinating. The woman who gave the talk was a fabulous speaker and teacher. I learned a lot about owls. Did you know they can turn their heads 270 degrees?

The little owl, the screech owl was actually kind of cute. And did you know, they don’t actually screech, they kind of make a “who” sound.

The medium sized owl was interesting, especially as he tried to fly around the room. Luckily, he was tethered to the speaker.

The big owl was very scary. He was gigantic. I swear, he looked right at me with those big yellow eyes, thinking I would be his dinner. I wouldn’t want to run into one of these when they were on the prowl for food.

The talk was sponsored by the Mass Audubon Society. They take in wild birds that have been injured or orphaned and are not able to survive any more in the wild. They are very conscious about not considering these birds as pets. They do not name them, like you would a pet. You also can’t touch them. This was tempting since the owls looked soft and fluffy, especially the little screech owl.