Showing posts with label owl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label owl. Show all posts

Sunday, October 26, 2014

National Geographic: Owls


Outgoing postcard US-2869244 to Ukraine, sent on July 3, 2014, has since expired. It shows a tagged northern spotted owl in a redwood forest in California.

After I saw a Youtube video of an owl attacked by a hawk, I was curious about the difference between owls and hawks, all birds of prey. Owls belong to the order Strigiformes, with more than 100 species. On the other hands, hawks belong to the Accipitridae family within the order Accipitriformes. Owls are more active at night while hawks rule the day. That probably partially explain the timing of the above "attack." However, hawks do appear to be more aggressive and territorial. Another popular Youtube Video shows the dramatic moment of a hawk attacking a drone over Cambridge, Massachusetts recently, sending the quadcopter plummeting to the ground.

Photo Credit: Michael Nichols/National Geographic Stock. The postcard was purchased at National Geographic store at Zazzle.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Silent Night


It has been 195 years since "Silent Night", a popular Christmas carol, was first performed at St. Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, Austria on December 24, 1818. The song was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber to the lyrics by Joseph Mohr. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in March 2011. 

Postcard US-2529926 to Thailand arrived just before the Christmas, showing three owls with Christmas hats. Maybe they will join the carol?