Owls and More

Firstly, I would like to let you know why I called my daycare Owl Kids Daycare.

Owls are one of my favorite birds since I was young. On my father’s farm there was a big barn (at least it seemed big to me as I was small) for farming machines and storage of hay and straw in the upper story. That’s where the Tawny Owl lived. She was very smart because she always found different places in the barn to hide so we had a hard time catching a glimpse of her.

As soon as twilight started, she flew out gallantly, silent, and fast. And at the time of dawn, she returned the same way. She was beautiful.

Owls look smart with their flat face and big eyes which resembles the human face more closely than other birds. Owls are a symbol not only of being smart, but also of being wise, observant, patient, quiet (watchful and absorbent), speaking when they have something to share, independent… the list could go on. That’s what we want for our children because they are our future.

To name my daycare Owl Kids Daycare seems to me the perfect fit!

A fun fact, as I recently learned: the Great Horned Owl is Alberta’s provincial bird! Following a province-wide children’s vote, the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) became the official bird in 1977. The children selected this beautiful bird because it lives in Alberta year-round and to symbolize the growing concern about threatened wildlife, not only in Alberta but around the world.‍

My daycare is mainly a nature daycare. Being outside whenever possible with the children on our acreage, they will have a chance to see the Great Horned Owl. She lives behind our acreage and each year she gets owlets.

Surrounded by forest and wetland prairie, there are lots of different birds on our acreage and flying over our acreage, especially in the spring and summer time: the Baltimore Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler, American Goldfinch, Killdeer, Blue Jay, American Robin, Mourning Dove,  White Breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and other songbirds and birds of prey like the owls, Red Tailed Hawk, even the Golden Eagle and the Bald Eagle, because Red Deer River is nearby.


The Bald Eagle is very special to me. At age 12 I held one on my left hand, covered with a leather glove. This impressive strong bird was very heavy to me, and the ornithological warden had to help me lift it.

      In 2006, our Honeymoon in Alberta was stunning, mostly in the Rocky Mountains, that’s where I saw for the first time the Bald Eagle in the wild, soaring above the lake. I was amazed to see my favorite bird of prey in freedom!
      Alberta is beautiful! Wide open space, forest, prairie, mountains, rivers, and lakes with all kinds of wild animals and plants. The sky here in Alberta is special too. It is very different from Germany, so very open.

On our acreage we see amazing sunrises many mornings and often, when looking out over the field, we can see foxes, coyotes, deer, and other animals.

To know the names of the animals and to know about their behavior, their sounds, their habitats, their special needs, and fascinating abilities, and more… to know about the plants, to feel, smell and taste them, and to know about the weather, brings us even closer to nature.

Doing it this way makes it easy to stay always connected to God’s beautiful and stunning creation, even later on. This keeps us grounded in any situation.

Tawny Owl image: Anil Öztas, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Great Horned Owl Image: Peter K Burian, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons