If you are hanging around the pond's area at Campus S. Francisco at dusk these days, you can hear an intermitent, low-pitched flute sound, more or less like this:
What you are hearing then is the calling of a beautiful yet little known bird who lives in parks and forests near us: the Scops Owl (Otus Scops). This miniature hunter (it's almost the size of a beercan) spends only the summer among us, breeding and hunting for insects at night.
If you pay a little attention you will hear it calling at around 21:00 h. by the pond; but mind you: that is all you will manage to notice about it, as it is very difficult to see, both for its timid character and for its perfect camouflage coat. So enjoy its mistery, because when you hear the call you, and not many others, will know that it is there.
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| Photo from El Sauco v1.1 |
