Weekly Wildlife at the Garden: Hooter the Owl
Posted in Wildlife on November 9 2016, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.
This past weekend, for the fourth consecutive year, The New York Botanical Garden had a live birds of prey demonstration as part of its ongoing Fall Forest Weekends programming. Returning for their second year was the Quogue Wildlife Refuge, a non-profit organization based in Long Island. In addition to 305 stunning acres of protected land, they also serve as a permanent home to wildlife that can no longer be released.
For this year’s presentation, they brought along a great-horned owl, two screech owls, a snowy owl, and a red-tailed hawk. Garden visitors were given a wonderful photo opportunity as the presenters walked through the aisles while explaining the stories of each bird of prey. During their talk they briefly touched on the fact that many resident and migrant raptors call NYBG their home. And just like last year, Hooter the great-horned owl stole the show!
Owls are some of the most beautiful birds and it’s so unfortunate that I never see them except in captivity. I recently saw my first presentation of raptors and they had a couple of types of owls. The larger birds, like the eagles and hawks, are awe-inspiring, but the owls are breathtakingly beautiful.
Caring for them and learning to respect and work with these types of birds is something I would love to do, but know it will never happen. I can only admire them from a distance.
Wildlife refuges are important to our society and I’m thankful for those who give their time and resources to keep them running. Thank you for this picture!