CEHHS Student Kristen Mehl Leads Science Learning at Environmental Interpretive Center's, "Owl Prowl"

UM-Dearborn BGS-Children and Families major Kristen Mehl was one of the  leaders for an "owl prowl"  for a group of Young Naturalists (ages 9-12) who come to the Environmental Interpretive Center once-a-month, through the seasons, for outdoor learning experiences. Mehl started working at the EIC in September due to a love of the natural world and teaching children about it as well as herself.  She says she was fortunate enough to be asked by Mary Fastiggi to help her lead the program. This was the second session for the Young Naturalists, the first being in October.

Mehl recounted her experiences in the “owl prowl”: “So myself, along with three other staff members Mary, Elizabeth and Jennifer took a group of about thirty children and some parents out on the trails behind the EIC to call for owls. The children come once a month for outdoor learning experiences that really help them connect with nature in a way they probably have not experienced previously. This particular night was the "owl prowl." Before we hit the trails, we talked about the different types of owls we would be looking and listening for, along with their particular adaptations that allow them to be nocturnal. This ranged from silent flight, large eyes, sharp talons, and camouflage. After the short talk, we headed out to the trails and used an IPhone App and IPad app  to call for Saw-Whet owls, Eastern Screech Owls and Great Horned Owls. We tried calling in the Saw-Whet and Screech Owls, as they are prey for the Great Horned. We didn't experience much luck with hearing them, which is usually uncommon. There is usually a lot of success hearing Eastern Screech Owls. It was getting very cold, as we were out from 7-8:30pm and we were becoming discouraged. Once we made it almost to Jensen's Meadow, we started calling for Great Horned Owls. We started hearing two Great Horned Owls calling to one another in the distance, so we continued walking toward the meadow. It is unclear who spotted the figure in the tree first, as it was a small blob, but we approached the tree further and sure enough, there was a football shaped owl in the tree noticed by the silhouette of the moon. All of the program attendees were able to see the owl and hear him call. Rick Simek believes there were two, a male and female, calling to one another for courtship as this is about the time these owls do so. The reason the photo is so grainy is because it was only taken in natural light provided by the moon and I needed to zoom in to get a clear shot of it, but boy was it spectacular! After we came in from the walk, I showed the children a picture of a Great Horned Owl in the daytime that I had recently taken at the Leslie Science and Nature Center so they could see exactly what they were looking at that evening. We then dissected Owl Pellets and called it a night.”

Mehl concludes by stating, “My experience in CEHHS has helped me gain strategies for becoming a better teacher, and allowed me to have an advantage when applying for environmental education positions because it is one thing to know science, but it is another to know how to teach it.”