Barred Owl -- Strix varia (#1 of 4)
Barred owls nested in my neighborhood again this year, but I never figured out where the nest was located. We frequently heard the pair calling, and at times the male would spend the day sleeping in a pine tree along the edge of my front yard. Sometimes small birds or crows would discover it there and raise quite a fuss for a while, but the owl seemed quite content to just ignore all the attention and stay there rather than relocate to another place. Once the pair had hungry mouths to feed, it was not unusual to see one of the birds in my yard hunting during daylight hours. During those times, the small birds would really raise hell (especially the robins), and on a couple of occasions I saw the owl flying away carrying a bird in its talons and getting chased and chastised by the angry mob of small birds.
The four barred owl shots posted today were taken during one of those daylight hunting forays. The owl was exceedingly unconcerned by me approaching it with my camera and I was able to get quite close. These shots were taken as the bird sat on the pole on the edge of my woods with the nest box where screech owls used to nest. The screech owls have not been seen since the barred owls moved into the neighborhood a few years ago. As the owl sat on the post, it alternated between alertly scanning the area for something it might catch and falling asleep. I came to the conclusion that feeding hungry youngsters sometimes required overtime hours in order to meet their needs, and that the tired parent was really wanting to get some sleep rather than spend more time on food duty.
Barred Owl -- Strix varia (#1 of 4)
Barred owls nested in my neighborhood again this year, but I never figured out where the nest was located. We frequently heard the pair calling, and at times the male would spend the day sleeping in a pine tree along the edge of my front yard. Sometimes small birds or crows would discover it there and raise quite a fuss for a while, but the owl seemed quite content to just ignore all the attention and stay there rather than relocate to another place. Once the pair had hungry mouths to feed, it was not unusual to see one of the birds in my yard hunting during daylight hours. During those times, the small birds would really raise hell (especially the robins), and on a couple of occasions I saw the owl flying away carrying a bird in its talons and getting chased and chastised by the angry mob of small birds.
The four barred owl shots posted today were taken during one of those daylight hunting forays. The owl was exceedingly unconcerned by me approaching it with my camera and I was able to get quite close. These shots were taken as the bird sat on the pole on the edge of my woods with the nest box where screech owls used to nest. The screech owls have not been seen since the barred owls moved into the neighborhood a few years ago. As the owl sat on the post, it alternated between alertly scanning the area for something it might catch and falling asleep. I came to the conclusion that feeding hungry youngsters sometimes required overtime hours in order to meet their needs, and that the tired parent was really wanting to get some sleep rather than spend more time on food duty.