Barred Owl

Carol, it's funny you ask, all the years I've lived here, I've never seen one before this one ~ despite always looking. Since this spotting I've seen one more. The one above I just happened to notice perched in the tree as we drove down the road. (We live out in the boonies surrounded by state forest). It was about 5:00 pm, a dreary overcast and drizzly sort of day. What I've since read is that Barred owls will come out earlier under such low light conditions to hunt. The second one I've seen was on a same sort of evening ~ overcast and dreary, and I'm pretty sure it was also a Barred. It startled me by flying right over my head from it's perch in a tree next to my compost bin. I didn't hear a sound, but the movement caught my eye. I set my game camera up next to my compost bin, and the next night sure enough an owl made an appearance. So cool!! I assume it was hunting whatever little creature might be nibbling on my compost. I hope this was helpful, and good luck owl spotting :)

Spotting an owl is high priority for me. Any advice. I don't ever remember seeing an owl in the wild ever in my life. Beautiful series.

Thank you Willie!

very nice spotting Cheryl Lee

Thanks Emily!

Oh! Beautiful!

Thank you! I was so delighted when I spotted him!

LIke your owl!

Great spot!

I saw one by the road the other day too! Mine seemed to be a little more lighter toned. Cool to see the different variations! :)

Thank you! He (or she) was sitting right beside the road. We were going slow due to black ice and I couldn't believe my eyes at first. So happy to have spotted him!

Very nice Cheryl Lee.

Beautiful!