Owls, Birds, and Butterflies

In November 2003 a young owl crashed into a window at the school where I was the school nurse, in St. Paul, MN. The owl was very stunned. His left eye appeared injured but later he could open it.His wing appeared broken. His imprint was in the window for a long time as we didn't want to wash it away. We notified The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota, they recommended we put him a box until they arrived as the owl needed darkness. We named the owl Screech. Yeah, I know, original weren't we!It was identified by the Raptor Center as a long eared owl,very rare in Minnesota. They were very excited to get him because of how rare they are here. Previously only a few had been identified in Minnesota but no where near us; rather in the lower southern corner of the state. We are located on the banks of the Mississippi River and get many birds in our courtyard, but never an owl in broad daylight. Screech spent several weeks at the raptor center while his broken wing healed. Then he was released in southern MN where he will hopefully find other long eared owls.














These are a few examples of the many birds of Hawaii. I took these photos last month along Waikiki Beach. I love seeing colorful birds. They are easy to see in Waikiki because they are everywhere. When I go bird watching here along the Mississippi I need binoculars to find the birds amongst the foliage.




These are photos of Admiral butterflies taken in June 2005 by my son Alex. They were taken in Ontario, Canada. We drive to Armstrong, where the road ends, then fly to an island, never the same one twice. Every morning these butterflies would be found in shoes left to dry out on the dock.