A great gray owl perches on a branch in a neighborhood park on Friday, March 9, 2012, in south Anchorage, Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says the owl's distinctive facial disk and its feathers help direct sounds toward its ear openings, and that it can hear mice and other rodents under two feet of snow. Bird watchers have reported repeated sightings of the normally reclusive great gray owl in Anchorage throughout the winter.