Tuesday, January 24; 6pm
What: Owl Night Hike
Where: Sycamore Park/Batavia.
Organizer: Laura Riesenberg
Dress for the weather (low of 43 if you can believe the extended forcast) and if you have a flashlight, you may want to bring it (please don't feel you need to go buy one, we may not even use them!).

Ironically the kids received this month's copy of Your Big Backyard yesterday in the mail and it has a couple things on owls in it as well as a beautiful picture of the great horned owl. The book of the month is called OWL MOON by Jane Yolen about a young girl who gets to go owling with her dad for the first time. It also gives tips on going owling and recommends the website Journey North's Owl Listening Guide: Who Gives a Hoot? at http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/spring/OwlDictionary.html to hear the call of 4 owl species and a mourning dove, which can sound similiar to an owl.

Owl coloring page link: http://www.kidwings.com/teacher/coloringpages/main.htm

Please contact Laura at theriesenbergs@cinci.rr.com if you would like to attend! Also, feel free to come out even if you decide at the last minute, just be on time since I won't know to be waiting on you!

Directions: Take I-275 to the Batavia/Rt 32 exit (#63) and exit towards Batavia....follow out to the Main St. Batavia exit (you will pass all the stuff in Eastgate and then a Speedway and then a Salvation Army, just keep going and head down the hill)....follow Main St. to Foundry (this is either the first or second light) and turn right onto Foundry....follow it about a mile or so and you will see the sign for Sycamore Park on your left hand side.... We usually meet at the shelter that is straight ahead as you pull in.

The weather was perfect (a bit windy, but warm for January) and we had a GREAT time hiking in the dark and calling for owls! It was unbelievable how QUIET so many small children could be. Unfortunately we didn't get any owls to call back, but it was a fun time and we know how to "call" for the owls if we happen to be out on a dark winter night! Cade wants to go and try again, he was really disappointed he tried to hard to be perfectly quiet, he had spent the whole week reading his owl books! They are having a public program again in a few weeks, maybe we will go and try again!