There’s a tiny predator in the woods around Lake Martin that is a common, year-round resident but – because it is nocturnal, secretive and super-well camouflaged - you’ve probably never seen it. Even if you looked right toward it.

While the Eastern Screech-Owl is not the most obvious bird that comes to mind when you think of a raptor, it is a small, opportunistic and efficient hunter that uses its beak and needle-sharp talons to capture a very wide range of prey, including insects, fish, lizards, snakes, frogs, earth worms, soft shell turtles, crawfish, salamanders, moths, cicadas, chipmunks, squirrels and other birds, including quail, woodcock, pigeons and even sparrow hawks. The Screech-Owl’s favorite prey seems to be small rodents, like mice.