The Owls of Lowe's Garden Center

My sister Kathy makes great stained glass images but this isn't one of her's it is one Matt has in the bay window of his home.

 

The Whetstone Mountain range lies between Sierra Vista and Tucson and are one of three ranges that bound the Sierra Vista. We have taken several drives in the area looking for flowers and wildlife but ...

... it took going to the Sierra Vista Lowe's hardware store Nursery to find what we have looked for so long a baby owl in the wild...

 

...and there it was, there are actually two owl babies one is hiding, sitting on its nest. Well actually it was on a bag of organic soil.

Of course mom and dad kept an eye on the babies from the rafters of the nursery...

...as proud parents and fierce attackers of anyone who gets too close.

I looked up references to the great horned owl (that's what these are) and found some facts that all wax whimsically about these great bird in the wild of everywhere but a Shopping Mall.

"Great horned owls will usually perch or roost during the day in a protected area such as a tree limb or rocky overhang. When awake and hunting they use their excellent ability to hear to catch their prey. This is aided by excellent eyesight and the fact that they make little-to-no noise when they fly. "

More Facts:

"It is a myth that owls can turn their heads all they way around in a complete circle. They can turn their head close to 270 degrees because they have extra neck vertebrae. Owls are unable to move their eyes, so in order to see around them they must turn their head."

And wait there;s more:

"Did you know that a great horned owl probably does not have a good sense of smell? It is one of the few predators that will actually kill and eat skunks. Taxidermists who stuff and mount dead owls often have to deodorize them first, because the bird smells so strongly of skunk! "

Back to the babies, you can kind of see the second baby behind the first here.

"The name great horned owl suggests the involvement of some kind of horns. Although these owls do not really have actual horns, instead have tufts or feathers that bear semblance to a horn. In fact, some people also call them cat owls, since they feel the tufts appear similar to cat's ears. Interestingly, the great horned owl grows"

They look so cuddly:

"The Great Horned Owl is referred to as “the tiger of the sky” because of its fierce nature and ability to capture a wide variety of prey that may be larger or heavier than the owl. The Great Horned Owl is one of the few species that occasionally preys on skunks."

They are just too cute for words. Last fact below doesn't mention sacks of soil at the hardware store but I suppose this is a bit unusual except for this Lowe's store, this IS their 3rd year nesting here - go figure.

"Great horned owls will usually perch or roost during the day in a protected area such as a tree limb or rocky overhang. When awake and hunting they use their excellent ability to hear to catch their prey. This is aided by excellent eyesight and the fact that they make little-to-no noise when they fly. "

The store also has some beautiful flowers for sale (they don't sell the owls) ...

...So I enjoyed getting a few pictures.

I think flowers amaze me because of the variety of shapes...

... and colors...

...and fragrance.

I like Calla Lilies and usually see them in white but I found some yellow,

... and yellow and red.

I liked these colorful daisy looking flowers ...

... and these red flowers...

... I even found a really cool fountain ...

... we even bought this bottle brush tree and planted it next to Matt's Main driveway. It was a good day topped off with some great grilled Tuna Steaks - Thanks Sharyn.

Quote of the Day ~ "He respects Owl, because you can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right.” ~ A. A. Milne