Tag: #barredowls

Barred Owl January 2025

I usually only see owls deep in the woods and not in open areas. This is a barred owl. I was lucky enough to take a lot of pictures of it in a short time period from the road.

Barred Owl January 2025– Short rest on the power lines

It was on private property. One of the local home owners said they see the owl on their property daily. It rested its eyes on the power lines for a short time. Sometimes they do that to fool the animals in the woods.

Barred Owl January 2025- unsuccessful hunt in the grass

It moved to different perches and was actively hunting while I was there. Two or three different times I saw it move from a perch to swoop down in the grass. It was unsuccessful each time. It was great seeing an owl out in the open, despite it being a dark and dreary day.

Barred Owl January 2025 – hunting from a perch

Off to another perch. I was very happy to come across this owl. A local had mentioned she had seen one here a few times when she passed by, so I checked it out. It is farther away than the two families I followed this summer, so I am sure they are not related.

Stay safe! Stay warm! Have a great rest of your week!

Owl Fledglings 2024

These are two of the three fledglings from the same tree hole in May. This appears to be the day these two left the nest hole. The third was still in the hole and was quite loud.

Owl Fledglings 2024

The two out of the tree hole looked so small for barred owls it was confusing. It did not help they fledged during a dark day where it was raining hard. This is why they look drenched. The one pictured above is on a tree branch on the ground. I called a friend and she came. To not upset the apple cart with the parents, who had to be nearby, we left the baby on the ground in hopes that it would climb a nearby tree. It looked exhausted.

Owl Fledglings 2024 I manipulated this dark photo a lot to try to get it sharper and with less noise.

This is the second fledged owlet. It was on a tree maybe ten feet off the ground. This is the last time I saw the owlets from this tree. I did see the parents hunting nearby several times, so I am thinking they were there somewhere. This year though the screech of the babies asking for food was absent. I have always heard that in the past. This year I only heard the screeching coming while they were inside the tree hole or at the hole. Hopefully the great horned owls coming on their territory did not result in the barred owlets being killed. I am hoping they moved them safely to another area.

Unexpected Owlets

These are an unexpected find. It is an unexpected location for many reasons that I cannot go into detail about.

Unexpected Owlets screaming for parents and most likely food

The weather has been absolutely horrid. Very cloudy most of the time it seems, so it makes for very dark conditions amongst a group of trees. The photo at the bottom I actually got caught in a passing rain storm.

Unexpected Owlets – Two in the hole

I actually heard the sounds days before I saw them at the tree hole. The first few days they did not appear at the tree hole. I walked on all sides of this tree and the sound appeared to come from the other side of the tree no matter what side of the tree I was on. I concluded it had to be inside the tree. I even had a friend listen to a video of the sound to confirm it was an owlet. I never heard them make these sounds inside the tree hole, only after they ventured out of the hole. Then I saw one on a different day appear at the hole. On another day I saw two heads. It almost appeared the one would push the other out.

Unexpected Owlets- It was raining and I had to leave.

All of these photos, but especially the one on the bottom are taken in very low light conditions at a high ISO. Even in a location you would never think an owl would nest, they might. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Another Day Another Tree

Since the leaves are just starting to come in, this owl is still choosing to hang out on pine trees. Another day another pine tree.

This time some birds were aware the owl was there. Some were protesting, but they still kept a safe distance. The owl positioned itself next to a stream hoping for some wildlife to stop by and get a drink.

Leaves of trees between where I stood and the tree the owl was on are filling in. It is going to be tougher to find the owl soon. Here’s hoping I find this one’s tree hole.

Have a great week and I hope you have great weather!

New Tree?

This tree had two visible holes, but the larger hole I did not think was large enough to host an owl that was egg sitting. After seeing an adult owl perched in the tree I realised it could. I also figured out there was another hole I could not view.

Not sure if this is a nest tree or the barred owl was just chilling. No wildlife seemed to spot this owl here so it seemed to be a good perching spot. I haven’t seen two owls together yet. I have not heard them calling to each other. It has been rather quiet this year in the woods. I am open to the belief this owl and its mate may be hanging out more on private property.

Despite that it was a cloudy morning, I was happy to spot this owl. The tell tale signs of the nearby wildlife being upset were not there. Looking at tree holes and knobs of branches helped today. Walk slow and appreciate nature.

Owlet is Catching Prey

The ongoing saga has been will the barred owlet catch prey on its own. I have witnessed it catching bugs on its own, but nothing else yet. I guess he has to start somewhere.

After the owlet caught a bug on its own, the parent came by and gave it another bug. I am wondering if these are cicadas?

After I saw the owlet catch a bug on his own, one of the parent owls came by and briefly dropped off another bug. The owlet is still making loud screeching sounds though, which will not help him trying to catch other prey such as chipmunks.

These pictures were right before sunset in the dark forest. They have a lot of noise in the photos.

Hopefully the owlet will be able to learn to not give itself away and catch prey that will keep him satisfied. Is that a cicada or beetle he is eating?

Last Owlet Standing

The last man standing is the last person to be left doing something. It appears the other two owlets are hunting on their own. You only hear this owlet screech and boy does it screech loud. The owlets seem to make that noise when they are hungry. Many times I see the parents come by after they have screeched for a time period with food. It is still relying on the parents to feed it, so it’s the last one relying on the parents a lot for food. The parents are still bringing by insects and small animals to feed it. I have been worrying it seems to be taking this one longer than the others to hunt.

The most detailed picture I think I have gotten yet. If you look above the ph in photography on the owl you will see a bug hitching a ride.
It was looking around a lot, which looks like it is interested in catching something. These owls are usually in darker areas of the woods.

It is flying tree to tree, so that is a good sign. What do you think? Is it a late bloomer that needs more time or could it have an issue?

Daytime Owlet

I had Monday off for a new bank holiday. What do I do on a holiday? If I have time I hike and see if I can spot owls or their owlets.

Owlet on a lower branch. None of my owl pictures are in the raw. I don’t know how to open these new Canon generated raw files.

Luckily I found two of the three owlets on lower branches. They planted themselves on this tree for a few hours. I got a lot of nice pictures out of it. One seems to stay well hidden now. I look at him as the designated driver. Instead of not drinking to stay safe and keeping everyone else safe he stays well hidden to stay safe. Or am I wrong about this and the third one is more shy?

Flying Owlets

This week I got to see the babies a few times. They are like little children on sugar when they are awake. They fly from branch to branch following each other. It looks like they are chasing each other in a game of tag. They don’t linger on trees too long before they take flight again while they are awake.

Peek-A-Boo! A baby barred owlet in view and one of its siblings hiding behind some leaves.
Sibling flew off.
Perched on a broken branch.
Flying from tree to tree.
Screeching for food. At least one of them got either a mole or vole that night.

BARRED OWLET SOUND

Click on the audio file below to hear the noise barred owlets make.

Good-bye baby owl!

Do owlets have ADHD? With all the flying they do while they are awake I wonder how many rodents their parents need to catch for them a day.

Feeding Time

I placed another tick in a box last night. I was beginning to think I would never see an owl feed their babies. They seemed to shy away from doing that within eyesight of me. Then, last night I saw and heard them in all one areas again.

Mother perhaps with prey.

The one parent flew to the same tree as the children. I could not tell if it had someone, but someone I was with said they saw it was holding a chipmunk. If you look carefully under the branch you see dangling legs.

Parent with two of the three owlets visible.

The parent flew to another tree and the owlets followed.

Tearing up the chipmunk.

The parent then proceeded to tear out pieces of the chipmunk and feed them to the owlets.

Two were very interested and were nearby. The third was higher up.

They don’t always do this within view. Sometimes it is high up in the tree tops with leaves blocking the view. I was so happy to see this tonight. Owls are predators. It is what they do to survive.