October on the Marsh
October is one of the most beautiful months of the year in Wisconsin, flaming red
and yellow leaves accent the tree line and in most places the grass is still green. The
decorations come out in yards, on porches and children select their Halloween
costumes with excitement! Darkness arrives earlier each day and there is a cool
freshness to the air as frost may put an end to the growing season of many plants.
Trees hang filled with apples, wild grapes are abundant, many shrubs bear fruit that will
feed birds and wildlife throughout the winter. It is a time of plenty and a time of
preparation for the cold months to come.
One of our Halloween icons is the owl. Collins Marsh and areas nearby are home
to several different kinds of owls. They are usually active at night, so they are rarely
seen during daylight hours. It can be fun to go to natural areas and as the darkness
comes earlier, listening for their calls. Some owls are in our area year-round, and others
migrate here to take advantage of habitats that provide them with a steady food source.
Owls that make their home in our area over winter include great horned owls,
barred owls and screech owls. Short eared owls migrate to grassland areas nearby to
hunt throughout the winter. If you have ever been out at night and heard an owl in the
distance asking you a question, “who cooks for you”, you have probably heard a
conversation between barred owls. Their distinctive call is easy to recognize. Barred
owls are beautiful birds and efficient hunters of rodents. They are not quite as large as
great horned owls but very interesting to listen to and observe.
Owls have several things in common including the ability for soundless flight, with
special adaptations that enable them to move quietly through the night air. Their wings
and feathers have a unique structure, large wings that allow them to glide and fly slowly
with wing feathers that feature comb like serrations on the leading edge, breaking up
the air as they move through it. This acts to absorb the sound created by their
movement. Barred owls feed on a varied diet including rodents, and other small
mammals, small birds, amphibians and reptiles. Their silent flight allows them to hear
and locate prey that is hidden by vegetation or even snow.
Once they grab that mouse it is usually swallowed whole, like most birds they
cannot chew their food. Larger animals like rabbits are torn apart and eaten piece by
piece. Owls have a different digestive tract than most other birds. Have you ever found
and dissected an owl pellet? Where do owl pellets even come from? When an owl
devours prey, they have a part of their stomach that secretes digestive acid and
enzymes on it. This starts the digestion process. The second part of their stomach filters
bones, teeth and other parts of the prey like fur and feathers that cannot be digested.
These are compressed into a pellet and eliminated by regurgitation. It can be a fun
science project to dissect an owl pellet to see what the birds have been feeding on.
It is very important to eliminate rodenticides from your yard. If an owl eats a
mouse that has consumed poison, the toxin can travel up the food chain to the owl and
can poison that bird as well. Most things we use in our yard eventually end up in other
organisms, so we need to be mindful of that.
No matter what your Halloween plans include, why not pick a quiet night to go
out and listen for owls in your neighborhood or at a natural area like Collins Marsh.
WHO knows what you might hear! Taking a nature walk with flashlights can be a fun
family experience as well. Enjoy the outdoors in every season, there is so much to learn
about and appreciate. Maybe you will hear something in the dark asking, “who cooks for
you?”.
