Looking for a place to spend a day on the greens, chipping, putting, and traveling across a beautiful golf course? You’re in luck because five Oakland County Parks maintain splendid golf courses. Whether you’re interested in the Arthur Hills-designed course of Lyon Oaks, a women’s league, beginner lessons, or a fast nine-holes at Red Oaks, Oakland County Parks has something to offer golfers of all ages and experience levels.
“Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” That’s the classic ghostly call of the Barred Owl, an owl very much at home in Oakland County. The rising and falling melody with a hint of a southern drawl in the last few syllables reminds naturalists that the owl’s breeding season is here. Yet, others less admiring of the raucous chorus of barred owls hooting back and forth may describe the sounds as the music of a troop of rowdy monkeys. That description is very close to the truth.
Follow the Cornell Lab of Ornithology link to hear the calls of barred owls: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/search/?q=barred%20owl%20soundsowl/sounds
Every now and then, a hiker might hear or even see a barred owl perched on a tree limb in daylight. Oakland County Parks, Huron-Clinton Metroparks and the State Recreation Areas of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (located in Oakland County) all host these beautiful raptors of the night. Barred owls favor wooded wetlands with nearby open areas for hunting; that means trailside swaths of Addison Oaks, Highland Oaks, Independence Oaks, Lyon Oaks, Rose Oaks and Springfield Oaks county parks are perfect barred owl habitats.
