Halloween Owl Prowl

Last Friday, October 30th, marked The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County’s Halloween Owl Prowl. 30 excited participants gathered at Bucktoe Creek Preserve in the hopes of capturing a glimpse of these elusive nocturnal birds that frequent the property. With a little bit of light left in the day, we started out by learning about the 8 owls that can be found in Pennsylvania and the 3 target species for the night: Eastern Screech Owl, Barred Owl, and Great Horned Owl. These are the three most common owls of Pennsylvania, and are all known to live on or near Bucktoe Creek Preserve.

Comparing the wingspans of the three common PA owls

Taking a look at owl pellets found on the property

Once we were all caught up on facts about the owls, had checked out the taxidermy, and investigated some owl pellets, everybody was more than excited to get out on the trail to try to find real live owls! We split into two groups to give ourselves a better chance of finding owls, gathered our materials and set out to see what we could find. Our first two stops yielded no results, but at our third stop we heard our first owl! An Eastern Screech Owl, the smallest of our common PA owls, called its whinny call. Invigorated by hearing our first owl, we moved on, certain that we would find more, and we were not disappointed. At our next stop another Eastern Screech Owl flew past us, landing on a tree not far from the trail, giving us a wonderful look! As we continued the walk, we saw or heard at least three more Screech Owls. They were putting on a show for us, silently flying past us to check us out. We had a great time out on the trail searching for owls, maybe next time we will get a Barred or Great Horned Owl!

Heading out on the trail!

Beatiful Bucktoe Creek Preserve sunset

The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County holds Owl Prowls every season. Our next Owl Prowl will be Friday, January 22^nd from 5-6:30, please click here to register! If you are interested in an Owl Prowl for your private group, please contact Hannah, our Education Coordinator, at 610-347-0347 ext 104 or education@tlcforscc.org.