Flora and fauna quickies: Falco the Owl; Great Backyard Bird Count starts tomorrow, trees can add years to your life

Flaco's ability to hunt for himself prompted zoo officials to scale back
retrieval efforts. (Photo by Jacqueline Emery, The New York Times)

Get set! The 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count will be held Friday, Feb. 17, through Monday, Feb. 20. How? For as little as 15 minutes, perch yourself and participate in this free, fun and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populationsParticipants are asked to count birds on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org.

Falco the Owl, who was inadvertently released from New York City Zoo, has proven that 13 years of captivity can't keep an owl from being an owl. Zookeepers originally feared that Falco would not be able to hunt successfully, but he's a quick study: his activities had included facing off with a Cooper’s hawk, at least one close encounter with a squirrel, foray onto Fifth Avenue near Bergdorf Goodman and catching his own rats for dinner.

The keys to a long life can seem elusive, but here's one idea that isn't tricky: plant a tree. A recent study conducted in Portland, Ore., found that in neighborhoods where a nonprofit planted more trees, fewer people died. The findings are in line with results from other researchers suggesting nature is good medicine for many ailments, including depression and high blood pressure.

Meet a U.S.-based search and rescue team of four humans and a K-9 dog named "Peter Pan." This crew was flown to Turkey in response to the earthquakes to search for people among the rubble. K-9 dogs can differentiate between people who are dead and people who are alive. They can also tell the difference between the scent of someone who's been out in the fresh air and someone who's been confined.

Humor is a powerful weapon against despair. Follow Bipolar Bear as tries to navigate the fictituous WeCare Co., complete with cigar-smoking felines who profit unfairly from a lopsided economy and a corrupt justice system. His fellow outcasts include such characters as an over-educated owl drowning in student debt and a bomb-sniffing puppy suffering from PTSD. Kathleen Founds says her experiences wit the U.S. health-care matrix led her to write this amusing, yet dark tale.
                                                                                                       

Lake Oroville (Photo by Brian van der Brug, L.A. Times)

Photo-journey of Lake Oroville before and after California's epic storms. The largest reservoir in the State Water Project was at 68% of its capacity on Friday, up from 28% just two months ago. The project is a system of reservoirs, canals and dams that serve about 27 million people.

River otters have returned to Florida, and their presence indicates a healthy ecosystem. The otters are native to Florida, but have not always been seen. Some advice: Yes, they are super-cute, but they have a dark side that involves hissing and sharp teeth. If you're walking your dog and and you run across one, go the other way.

Meet Melissa, who works at her family's dairy farm in the small northwest Massachusetts town of Buckland. Melissa is also a professional trumpet player. During Covid, Melissa learned that her cows really enjoyed her trumpet playing. Although Melissa prefers to play in an orchestral group vs. a cow pasture, she's open to hosting a summer concert at her farm someday.