Barred Owl Love

You might think that title would refer to two owls in love, but not so. This is about me falling in love with an owl. Remember the owl that I mentioned in my March 26 post, Barred Owl Neighbor? Well, I encountered her again this week while on my drive home. She was sitting in that same spot where I had seen her before, quiet, patient, beautiful. I drove the rest of the way home with a dialog going on in my head and the 'yes' won out. I grabbed my camera and off I went. As you can see, she was still there when I returned.





It is intimate and wonderful to watch an owl hunting from her perch, her head turning in every possible direction, and some that don't seem possible, as she patiently awaits her prey.

And as I watched her I realized this barred owl love affair began much earlier than this spring. It happened when a family of barred owls collected in the tree branches outside my door last summer and began to call back and forth to each other. This conversation of sorts went on for most of an hour, so much so that I could count by the distance of the calls that there were four of them taking part--parents and their fledged off-spring, I surmised. Take time to listen to the barred owl calls by clicking on the link: Barred owl. They are magical.

And while I was looking at these photos, the one below struck fear in me.

Two cars slowed to see what I was photographing (from my parked car). And as I took my eye away from the camera to look at them the owl struck her prey and they stopped to watch. Even though this vehicle had slowed to a crawl and the owl crossed safely, it shows clearly how much danger is in her path. I want to stand guard, direct traffic, insist the county put up a detour sign or, at the very least, post a sign that says:

"SLOW--OWL CROSSING".

Barred Owl Neighbor

I’m not altogether sure what thrills me so about seeing owls. Maybe it’s that they are so quiet and secretive. Or maybe it’s that each encounter is so unexpected. This particular Barred owl is my neighbor --well, in the neighborhood, anyway. He flew across my path last week as I was driving home at dusk, moving across the road from one wooded area to another. Last evening I encountered him again during the same time of day, same area, perched on a wire. (But of course it was the same owl.)
As I passed, he tipped his head down, in that funny owlish way, having spotted movement, or more probably, after hearing movement in the grassy area below him. His evening hunt had begun.

Egg laying for the Barred owl occurs in early March and incubation lasts four weeks. Young are soon to hatch, so the possibility of seeing them increases. Owls can sometimes be seen hunting in daylight hours while they are feeding young. In fact, my very first encounter with a Barred owl occurred during nesting season. As I paused on a walk, I looked up and there she was, still, quiet, beautiful, perched on a low tree branch in mid-afternoon, giving me a wonderful look at those amazing, expressive eyes.