A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Strix Varia
This owl was in my backyard around dusk. I believe that it may have been hunting the wild cottontail bunnies that I had seen a few nights before this owl showed up. I kept getting woken up by this owl hooting in the middle of the night (around 2 or 3 a.m.) for several nights and then was surprised when I actually saw it in my backyard. It was not scared of me and let me get pretty close to it to take these shots.
fantastic shot. I would go with juvenile barred owl; he still has some of his downiness around his neck. If you saw it in Florida, it is highly unlikely that it is a spotted owl. Great shot!
I hope you get to see them more again next year to. You can occasionally see these guys out during the day, but usually most common during early morning and evening hours. Barred owls are the second most common owl in Florida
Thanks for the correction! The owl did stay around for about 2 weeks, but is now gone. I no longer hear it in the middle of the night. I believe there were 2 of them hooting, but I only ever saw one. I hope that they do return in the winter, it was an amazing sight to see!
This isn't a spotted owl, it's a young barred owl. What a great shot! This at the end of their nesting season for the year. But they will be back again in the winter.
Such a stunning creature. I don't know if I've ever seen an owl in the wild before.
Spotted on May 6, 2011
Submitted on Jun 1, 2011
