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Tuesday, November 9, 2021

The Neighborhood Owl

One Sunday morning in mid-September my phone rang unexpectedly.  It was my neighbor Cheri.  "There's an owl in the park.  Get your camera and get over here!"


You found me!


Cheri had found a Barred owl roosted on a low-hanging tree branch in our neighborhood park.  I tore through the house, grabbing my camera and putting on a zoom lens before hustling out of the house and down the street.


Checking us out


I was afraid I'd get there too late, but upon arriving at the park, I was amazed to discover the owl still perched on a branch right above a main trail with no intention of going anywhere.  It sat and preened it's feathers for a few minutes before closing it's eyes and settling into a nap.


Naptime


Sadly the dark forest of the park didn't provide very good light for this most fortunate wildlife sighting.  But when one discovers an owl in such close range, you do the best that you can.  


"Hey, you woke me up!"

Hoping to hear the owl screech, Cheri had her phone play a Barred owl's call.  It worked like a charm.  The owl opened his eyes wide, looked around, and then parted his beak for an answer. 


The same owl on a different day in better light


A couple of weeks later, Cheri again spotted the owl, this time in a stand of trees several blocks away.  She was tipped off to the owl's presence by a flock of screeching jays - apparently these birds do not like an owl invading their territory.  This time we had much better light, and after following the owl through the trees, it perched right next to the road, and we got our money shots. 


Posing pretty

Cheri saw the owl one final time a week later, while walking her dogs in the park, when it flew right over her head.  I joked that the owl liked her!  

Now every time I take a walk through my neighborhood I'm on the lookout for our feathered friend.  Hopefully I'll see him once again.



14 comments:

  1. ...if my neighborhood has an owl that's news to me!

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  2. Awesome collection of Barred Owl photos. I hope you get to see him again!
    Take care, enjoy your day!

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  3. I can fully sense your joy of seeing and photographing this wonderful bird!

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  4. Wonderful, I was away the weekend at a caravan site and was listening to an owl hooting

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  5. That was all very exciting. Hopefully it will be back to make another starring role in your blog.

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  6. Owls are interesting characters as they are active at night and we rarely see them.

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  7. Awesome photos, Linda. Had to be a thrill to get these shots. We had a screech owl in our backyard several times this summer, but he always showed up at dusk or later without giving us a photo op. He would come and sit on the top of the lamp post behind our house sometimes for several minutes. It was really fun to watch him or maybe her and we look forward to that every evening. Too bad he didn’t show up while you were here. Good to hear from you.

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  8. Great shots of the owl. We definitely have a neighbourhood owl (he serenades me on many a winter's night) but you hardly ever see them roosting; the other birds kick up such a row if they roost in the open that our Tawny Owls retreat deep into the ivy that grows on many of our trees.

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  9. Linda, I love photos of owls and yours are fabulous. What a great visitor to your neighborhood. My friend had a mother and 3 fledglings on her property in AZ.

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  10. What a beautiful sight and the photos look pretty damn fine to me

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  11. I love barred owls' call: "Who cooks for you?!" They can also be aggressive; they've been known to swoop at cyclists and hikers around the Willamette Valley & Portland area. We had one in our backyard in Albany many years ago.

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  12. Is she stalking the owl, or is the owl stalking her?

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