It’s 8:15 and I’m waiting for an owl. I hear them calling to each other just beyond the park barn. The songbirds get really quiet for a few minutes every time the owls hoot or caterwaul. The past two evenings, the Barred Owl appeared in the pine tree at 8:30. I spotted it last night and trotted outside for a few shots (above, it’s looking up at some Grackles that were dive-bombing it). (How many Barred Owl pictures can one girl have? Not enough, apparently.) It took off over the parking lot like the night before, this time joined by two other Barred Owls. Siblings? Parent and young? I hope to see the owl land in the tree tonight. A Wood Thrush is singing loudly in the owls’ vicinity, and the Cardinals and Robins are getting agitated. Gray Catbirds are mewing and burbling in the shrubbery. Any minute now!
That bottom one is a great pic, with her looking straight at the camera. It’s exciting when you have been waiting and something happens you were hoping for…
Thanks Sandy. I never get tired of seeing these guys. It’s always such a thrill when they show up.