Outdoor Enjoyment:
Behold the Mystifying Owl Walk!
Owl walks are a great winter activity, as winter is the time of the year when owls begin preparing their nest and mating. You can certainly take an owl walk on your own, but it probably makes more sense to start off with a naturalist-guided owl walk, where you will learn more about what owls are in your area and how to increase your odds at hearing and/or seeing one. You can then take off on your own, tuning your senses way up—and your stress way down!
Owl walks are best performed at either dusk or dawn, when owls tend to be most active. You will need to place yourself in owl habitat; for example, a forest with plenty of tall pine trees is prime great horned owl territory. It is also essential that you make as little noise as possible. Owls have enormously keen hearing; it's how they're able to hunt so effectively. If an owl can hear a mouse or a vole moving around softly under a couple of feet of snow, imagine how booming a sound he hears when a bunch of humans are tromping through dried leaves! If too much noise is made, the owl will refrain from making any calls and/or leave the area. For this reason, owl walks are best taken once children are old enough to be able to walk softly, without any talking or even whispering.
When you take an owl walk, be sure to bundle up; dress even more warmly than you think you need to. The reason for this is that owl walks entail both walking...and waiting. And waiting. And waiting. In fact, an effective owl walk will often mean standing still and in one spot for ten minutes! The reason is two-fold: first, it allows the hikers to key in on even the faintest sounds--sounds that might otherwise be obstructed by even the most quiet of walking; plus, all eyes can now fixate on the trees, concentrating all efforts to decipher any movement, shape, and shadow. Second, it enables a stillness to return to that area of the forest, as it is momentarily uninterrupted by human movement. This can help increase the chances of seeing or hearing an owl, who might otherwise have been frightened off by nonstop walking. Walking can eventually be resumed, but there will also be additional periodic stop-and-wait intervals. This is why you must be dressed properly; the very clothes that are suitable for
brisk outdoor walking might prove terribly inadequate for the times the body is no longer moving, thus no longer generating the heat of exercise. Do yourself a favor: overdress. Better that than the other way around!
If you do hear an owl, consider yourself extremely lucky, as this is a rare pleasure (contrary to all of the Hollywood movies who depict the requisite owl hoot in every camp outing scene). You can either relish in the sound until it stops, or gently try to walk in the general direction of the sound. We have been fortunate on several occasions to have heard some great horned owls, followed them, and reap the reward of spotting these mysterious noisemakers high up in their trees. So it is certainly possible, but you need to be patient!
Besides the element of walking, which is a cardiovascular activity, the real boost that an owl walk offers in terms of fitness is its acute mindfulness component. An owl walk requires all of your senses; the level of attunement required is not at all dissimilar to the sense of inner attunement we tap when performing yoga! And like with yoga, this activity can help calm the breath, keep your mind focused on the present, and bring you to the simple pleasures of subtle bodily movements. Add this to your winter palette, and feel your stress melt! -ep
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