Olive the Owl mk4

Her mission is to fly . . . ? Olive wants to travel to as many caches as possible, especially those near wonderful old trees.  Take her picture during her visits and post on this page.
So Olive doesn't think her wings have been clipped please move her along within 2 weeks. Thanks!

This is a third Olive since the original was placed in a cache in June 2013 and was obviously taken by a cacher and never logged. After 8 months a new Olive was hatched and released into the wild carrying a Copy Tag. Sadly she too was stolen as was the third generation, now a rubber key  ring..... flying out into the wilds . . . . 

NO EVENTS Please far too many bugs have gone to meets and then have vanished,  thanks

A small  rubber owl keyring ,Olive is attached to her Travel Bug and a small keyring that explains the mission for those geocachers who don’t have instant internet access out in the wilderness.

Now for some facts: 
Owls belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species.  Most are solitary and nocturnal, actively hunting their prey only in darkness.  Several types of owl, however are active during the twilight hours of dawn and dusk as the Pygmy owl.  A few owls are active during the day also such as the Burrowing Owl, the Short-eared Owl and the Northern Hawk Owl.  Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish.  They are found in all regions of the Earth except Antarctica, most of Greenland and some remote islands. 

Much of the owls' hunting strategy depends on stealth and surprise.  Owls have at least two adaptations that aid them in achieving stealth.  First, the dull coloration of their feathers can render them almost invisible under certain conditions.  Secondly, serrated edges on the leading edge of owl's remiges muffle an owl's wing beats allowing an owl's flight to be practically silent.  Some fish-eating owls, for which silence has no evolutionary advantage, lack this adaptation.

Owls are divided into two families: the typical owls, Strigidae; and the barn-owls.  They have large forward-facing eyes and ear holes. Owls are characterized by their small beaks and wide faces and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye.  The feathers making up this disc can be adjusted in order to sharply focus sounds that come from varying distances onto the owl's asymmjetrically placed ear cavities.  Barn Owls have the unique feature of feathers that are not waterproof, meaning they cannot fly or hunt in heavy rain and that the soggy summer of 2012 had a detrimental effect on their numbers.

Most birds of prey sport eyes on the sides of their heads, but the stereoscopic nature of the owl's forward-facing eyes permits the greater sense of depth perception necessary for low-light hunting.  Owls must turn their entire head to change views.  They can rotate their heads and necks as much as 270 degrees in either direction.  As owls are farsighted, they are unable to see clearly anything within a few centimetres of their eyes.  Caught prey can be felt by the owl's use of the feathers on the beak and feet that act as "feelers".  Their far vision, particularly in low light, is exceptionally good.