By Carol Hillestad

Let’s take a walk in the nighttime woods. It will be a pretend walk, so even though it’s very dark and maybe past your bedtime, it’s OK. We won’t get lost. And you can wear your pajamas.

Stand still for a minute and close your eyes. What can you hear? The bubbling creek nearby. Your own breathing. How about the trees? Do they seem to be singing?

Right now their leaves and branches are full of katydids, calling each other’s name: “Katy-did! katy-did! katy-did!”

You might hear an owl calling from across the creek, trilling and whinnying like a horse. That’s a tiny screech owl with a warning: “Stay away from my nest!”

When you open your eyes, the woods won’t seem quite so dark, thanks to that sliver of moon in the sky. As you walk along the trail, take a deep breath. Maybe you can smell the woodsy smell of old leaves and pine needles under your feet.

Shhh! There’s a little movement up ahead. Looks like Momma Raccoon is taking her little ones out hunting for dinner.

She is teaching them where to find nuts, berries, bugs, eggs, fish and just about anything else that will fit in their hungry little mouths.

In a few months, they’ll be able to make their way in the woods on their own.

Hmmm. Now there’s a smell in the air that tells you a skunk family just went by. That was a lucky miss!

Plenty of other creatures are out tonight, too. You can hear another kind of owl, a really big one, hooting across the creek.

Great horned owls sound like they’re always asking, “Who? Who-who-whoooo?”

Red foxes, coyotes, possums, bobcats, and many other creatures travel these woods in the nighttime, when most human girls and boys and grownups are sound asleep in their beds.

A pretend walk in the woods is fun — but a real walk is even more fun, and you can walk in woods like these any time you like.

That’s because our land trust protects natural places where birds, fish, and animals live — to keep the creatures safe, keep our water safe, and give people beautiful places to walk.

Why not come visit in the daytime?

Whoooooo knows what you might see?

Join Our Owl Study

Even smaller than a screech owl, the northern saw-whet owl nests in the forests of Pennsylvania. Would you like to take part in outdoor research that studies these amazing little owls this October?

No age limit. Adults must accompany their children.

Contact PHLT for information at 570-424-1514 or adillon@phlt.org.

Brodhead Creek Heritage Center

Visit the Brodhead Creek Heritage Center to learn more about the natural resources and conservation in the Poconos.

The Center is located at 1539 Cherry Lane Road, East Stroudsburg, PA  18301, 570-424-1514

Pocono Heritage Land Trust owns and manages nature preserves throughout Monroe County. One is likely near you! Our preserves have walking trails, creeks and wetlands that children of all ages and their grownups are welcome to explore. Find trail maps online.

(Photo: Northern Saw-Whet Owl weighs less than a small peach.)

Resource Links:

-- Listen to screech owls

-- Listen to hoot owls - great horned owls

-- More information about Pennsylvania owls by Game Commission

[Posted: August 15, 2023]

8/21/2023