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We had just set up our outdoor living room on a lake outside of Nashville, TN and started to watch the season finale of Little Fires Everywhere when all the sudden...
I couldn't get a proper recording of it so check out this Youtube video to get an idea of it's call. Right around the 00:50 second mark is the call we heard.
Well basically we thought we heard a horse in the woods. I immediately took initiative and googled "bird sounds like horse neighing??" and sure enough, it was a Screech Owl. I pulled out my Merlin Bird App and confirmed: Eastern Screech Owl, Megascops Asio.
The next day we were off to KY where we stayed on Lake Barkley. We were excited to explore the area and decided to kayak from our lake shore across the Cumberland river over to Honker Lake Trail. After a 3 mile hike we stopped at the Nature Station to refill our water bottles and low and behold there was a Woodlands Nature Station Employee holding a screech owl, teaching some visitors all about them.
They're small in stature, and this one in particular was a beautiful, almost terracotta red-brown color. After some research I found out the Nature Station has two Eastern Screech Owls, Rose and Carson.
"Rose & Carson were named by Audubon Elementary 4th graders after influential woman conservationists who helped to save bird species during their careers. Both screech owls were hit by vehicles and have suffered impairments."
It was purely poetic to have just learned about these owls and then stumble upon Rose in all her glory. It is always a great feeling to learn about something new and have the opportunity to appreciate it from then on. Rose is now a part of our journey to learning more about the natural world and we couldn't be happier! As we travel we'll definitely keep an ear out for more of these beautiful birds.
10/10 would recommend this place for a visit!!
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