Barred Owls are Back!

 

This May and June, as during the past three or four years, Barred Owls have been making daytime appearances in the trees in my front and back yards.

Last June I videotaped a Barred owl enjoying one of our bird baths. Check out the post and video! 

For photographs like this one, I experimented with the “art bold” setting on my Canon PowerShot SX70 HS camera. This effect, according to the owner’s manual, “makes subjects look more substantial like subjects in oil paintings.” 

Here is another “art bold” example. I do like how it makes the Owl and it’s surroundings pop and more vibrant. 

By comparison, I took this closeup in the auto settings mode. 

So why does this normally nocturnal bird allow itself to be seen and photographed by me during the day? 

My wife Alesia offered a plausible explanation saying these must be young ones (Owlets) recently ordered by Momma Owl to begin life on their own. 

So maybe the Owlets get their footing during the day as they learn to hunt and protect themselves. 

Here are some more new Barred Owl images. 

Last month in May I began to see Barred Owl this spring. This one in my backyard was feasting on a caught critter, a squirrel maybe. 

As I am writing this post while on my back porch, I spotted two more Owls. One was being harassed and squawked at by a Crow and then a Cardinal. When the Owl flew over me to a branch really close to me there was an ear-piercing cacophony of noise as every small bird seemed to ring the danger alarm. 

This is the first shot I took this morning. Humidity fogged my camera’s lens so I wiped it several times. His image showed the cloudy lens but I improved it using the Snapseed app. 

The next two photos I set the camera to the “art bold” creative setting. I do like this look! 

This next image was when the Owl flew by me on the porch and perched nearby. Note the claws facing toward me but the head is turned in the opposite direction. Head on a swivel- literally! 

Now the head and claws are aligned.

I heard then spotted a second Barred Owl in my backyard. This one was near a nest. I don’t know the type of nest or if it was occupied at this moment. I’ll keep an eye on it. 

I took these next two photos in the early evening last night from my back porch with my iPhone 12.

 

A few days ago I picked up this ceramic owl pair at Farmhouse Antiques on Highway 17 south of Charleston. This was when I was driving home from a great outing at the Bear Island Wildlife Management Area in the ACE Basin. That’s the subject of my next post!