Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County’s Renai Township has temporarily closed its doors to visitors to conform with the government’s nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert. With nesting season currently underway, a family of collared scops owls — a protected species in Taiwan — has taken up residence in one of the park’s Taiwan incense cedar trees.
Although the recreation area is temporarily closed to the public, the epidemic prevention measures have not stopped its birds and bees from procreating. The months of May and June are nesting season, and things really come to life after dark. Within the recreation area it is possible to observe owls brooding, hear chicks chirping and see adult owls shuttling to and fro from their nests with morsels of food to help their little darlings grow up quickly.
Workers from the recreation area and research specialists from the Endemic Species Research Institute in the county’s Jiji Township were checking breeding boxes when they discovered a family of protected collared scops owls resting in a Taiwan incense cedar tree. The team believes there are at least four collared scops owls nesting in the tree. They have spotted them resting side-by-side in pairs or perching independently. The owls all had their heads tucked down and their eyes closed, sound asleep.
Photo courtesy of Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area 照片：奧萬大森林遊樂區提供
The team quickly grabbed the opportunity to photograph the charming scene, taking as many photos as possible of the owls. While the photographers were snapping away, one fledging owl discreetly opened its big, bright eyes and inclined its head to peek at the people below, which was captured on film to produce a surprisingly soporific photograph of the owlet’s adorably goofy expression.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
南投縣仁愛鄉奧萬大森林遊樂區因配合防疫三級警戒而休園，正值鳥類育雛期，園區的台灣肖楠樹上則有保育鳥類「領角鶚」家族現蹤。
Photo courtesy of Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area 照片：奧萬大森林遊樂區提供
奧萬大森林遊樂區因防疫而休園，生物的繁衍並不因此停歇，五、六月是鳥類育雛的季節，此時入夜時分，園區也能適時觀察到貓頭鷹的育雛畫面，幼鳥會發出「企、企、企」的叫聲，親鳥則會不停來回餵食，希望鳥寶寶快快長大。
園區工作人員與集集特有生物研究保育中心研究人員，日前在調查園區鳥巢箱的繁殖狀況時，就在台灣肖楠樹上發現正在休息的保育鳥類領角鶚家族，樹上至少有四隻領角鶚，有的兩兩相依，或是各據枝頭，每隻都是縮頭、閉眼，睡得香甜。
樹下的人們則是抓緊時機，拿起相機對著可愛的領角鶚家族猛拍，領角鶚幼鳥還會謹慎的睜眼查看，一雙水汪汪、圓滾滾的大眼睛，歪著頭看著樹下的人，呆萌的模樣讓人看了超療癒。
(自由時報佟振國)
Go camping camp (n)「營」可用在許多地方，例如summer camp「夏令營」、boot camp「戰鬥營」、甚至concentration camp「集中營」也是用這個字；而Camp David「大衛營」則是美國總統度假的地方。此外，camp也可當動詞「紮營」，camping當名詞是「露營」，紮營的地點「營地」則是campsite。 Fans of the world-renowned rock band, Crazy Noise, camped out the night before the band’s first concert in Europe. （世界知名搖滾樂團Crazy Noise的歌迷，在樂團首場歐洲演唱會的前一晚，就在外紮營徹夜等待。） Rebecca and I met at a summer camp in Florida when we were 12 years old. （十二歲那年，我和瑞貝卡在佛羅里達州的夏令營首次相遇。） 露營重要須知 若想在國家公園內露營，需要事先登記或申請許可證（permit），也因為在野外過夜，要準備充足的裝備與食物，重要配備像是帳篷、手電筒、睡袋…等，或者有些營地也有提供camping gear「露營裝備」的租借服務，gear是「設備」的意思，與equipment同義；此外，腳踏車或汽車的變速段數也可用gear來形容。 The demonstration video on the company’s Web site shows customers how to use bicycle gears properly. （公司網頁的示範影片展示如何正確使用腳踏車的變速設備。） Smith & Smith Outdoors offers a collection of rental camping gear such as tents, trekking poles, sleeping bags and so on. （史密斯戶外用品店提供一系列的露營用具租借，例如帳篷、登山杖、睡袋…等。） 手電筒的美式英文是flashlight，這個字同時也可解釋為「（手機或相機中的）閃光燈」。要注意「手電筒」在英式英文裡是torch (n)，在美式英文中torch則是「火把」的意思，因此奧運開幕式的火炬就稱為Olympic Torch。 It’s important to include a battery-powered flashlight, bottled water, and non-perishable food in the emergency survival kit. （在緊急救難袋中放置一個電池供電的手電筒，瓶裝水和不容易腐壞的食物是很重要的。） 搭帳篷（pitch a tent）也是露營的重要過程，pitch可當動詞或名詞，而且有多重字義，pitch在這裡是「搭」，也就是put up的意思。此外pitch也可解釋為「投擲」，如投手就是pitcher，而在多益測驗中，pitch常用作名詞使用，例如sales pitch「銷售宣傳、口號」。 You need
Taipei Performing Arts Center opens this week (2/3) 大貢丸」北藝中心開幕（二） A: At a cost of NT$6 billion (about US$200 million), the Taipei Performing Arts Center is finally set to open nine years after construction began. B: Wow, that’s expensive, although it does look cool. A: To celebrate its opening to the public, the center has put together a program of 37 shows, comprising 142 performances. B: Fantastic! I’m going to take a look at the program calendar. A: 聽說北藝中心造價高達近六十億台幣（約近兩億美元），蓋了九年終於蓋好啦。 B: 這麼貴？不過看起來是蠻酷的。 A: 為了慶祝開幕，該中心還安排了三十七檔節目、一百四十二場演出呢。 B: 太棒了！我先來查一下節目表。 （Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Taipei Performing Arts Center opens this week (3/3) 「大貢丸」北藝中心開幕（三） A: During the trial operation period, some audience members reported broken seats, poorly marked seat numbers, high steps, stuffy auditoriums and a lack of facilities for disabled people. B: That’s quite a lot of problems! A: There’s more: residents living nearby have complained of noise from outdoor activities at the center’s plaza. B: Well, it seems like the “meatball” needs to up its game. A: 不過試營運期間有觀眾反映︰北藝中心座椅破損、標示不清、樓梯陡峭、場地悶熱、無障礙規畫也不佳。 B: 問題還真不少。 A: 而且附近居民也抱怨，該中心在戶外廣場辦活動時噪音太吵。 B: 看來「大貢丸」要加油了。 （Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Tigers are the largest cats in existence. Below you’ll learn some lesser-known facts about these awe-inspiring creatures. 1. Tigers have an excellent memory. Did you know that tigers have one of the best memories of any animal? In fact, their short-term memory is even better than that of humans. Studies show that tigers can remember information for 30 seconds longer than we can. 2. A group of tigers is called an ambush or a streak. You can remember these terms if you keep in mind that tigers attack their prey by ambushing them, and that they have streaks of black on their orange fur.
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