Who's watching whom?

Great horned owls nest in Honeymoon Island State Park, where birdwatchers track them as they raise their young and hunt.

By LEON M. TUCKER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 15, 2002

DUNEDIN -- The pine tree towered green and lush in the distance.

Unlike the few around it, blackened in earlier years by fire and drought, this one was full of life and then some.

A closer look reinforces this when something moves.

Blending almost perfectly with the rugged brown bark, it comes into focus: first the pattern of its feathers, its eyes, then the sharp talons.

When it performs its signature head swivel, sizing up the small audience gathered below, its identity becomes obvious.

The great horned owl -- or Bubo virginianus, for science-types -- can be found across the United States. It is one of the most widespread species of owls.

At the Honeymoon Island State Park near Dunedin, park volunteer Wilf Yusek keeps an eye on the four owls, two adults and two young, that live there.

"The delight of seeing so many different birds just intrigued me and piqued my interest," said Yusek, a birdwatcher for 25 years. "I've been doing it ever since."

Yusek discovered the owls on Honeymoon Island when they first took over an abandoned osprey nest the day after Christmas last year. Ever since, he and fellow birdwatcher Joe Zarolinski have tracked the birds' moves and activities.

"The first time I saw (owls on Honeymoon Island), it was in '86," Zarolinski said. "It's nice to watch them raise their young like that, and they keep coming back year after year."

Great horned owls stand anywhere from 18 to 25 inches tall and can weigh as much as 4 pounds. Their wingspan is 36 to 60 inches, though females usually grow larger than males.

The feathers of the great horned owl varies regionally, from pale to dark. In general, they have brown body plumage covered with darker brown spots and white throat feathers that contrast with the dark cross-barred underparts.

Phyllis Youngblood of Asheville, N.C., stood with her daughter Traci Wood and grandson Russ Wood of Atlanta at the base of the tree, where the owl remained perched.

"It's beautiful," Youngblood said. "It really makes you appreciate the person who did all this: God.

"Sometimes we tend to forget that we don't control everything," she added. "Thank goodness."

The three visitors tried to figure out what the owl gripped in its talons.

"It's a mouse," said Russ, 7, sure of himself.

But it wasn't until the owl dived off the branch, flapped its wings and glided to a neighboring tree that the prey it was clutching was clear: a rabbit.

Great horned owls mainly hunt at night. They listen for sounds of potential prey from treetops and may move from tree to tree to get a better fix on an animal.

Once they pinpoint the sound, the owl silently swoops in, spreads its talons wide and pounces. Smaller animals are swallowed whole; larger prey are torn into pieces.

Great horned owls eat a wide variety of animals but mostly devour squirrels, muskrats, mice, skunks, snakes, domestic cats and rabbits.

"I can't believe how big is is," Russ' mother said. "I've only seen them in books."

Mike Johnstone of Cincinnati also shared in the experience.

"It's pretty special," he said. "But every time I go through this trail, I always see something special."

The expressions of discovery are rewarding to Yusek, a retired construction equipment salesman who splits his time between Ontario and the sandy trails of Honeymoon Island.

"People get a kick out of it," he said. "It's a joy showing other people the beautiful things in nature."

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