Exciting Barred Owl Encounters and Camera Captures

The start of June brought an amazing day of owl sightings at my house. A trio of Barred Owls spent much of the day and part of the next hanging around our front and back yards. I was able to take many photos and record videos as well. The most unusual part was when Alesia alerted me that an owl was in one of the bird baths on our back porch. I took almost a minute of video before it flew to a nearby perch. Check it out!  

Cool right? The water must have felt pretty cool to this young Barred Owl- I'm pretty sure this was a juvenile one. The things that children do! 

Here is more video I took earlier that day. 

I posted the bird bath Barred two days later (after posting the still shots to follow) on several Facebook sites (my neighborhood one, a South Carolina nature site and three or four other bird and nature sites). 

On the Carolina Bird Photo Sharing Facebook site it really took off. It has had more than 600 reactions and numerous comments and shares. 

This is another neat outcome from this owl visit. I first heard the unique Barred Owl hissing sound early in the morning when I went outside to get the newspaper. I looked up to see two owls on a branch looking down at me. 

Hey, this is another benefit of home delivery! If I didn't go out to get the paper I wouldn't have known these owls were around. 

I first noticed the hissing sound last June during a similar owl yard encounter. Click here to see that post. 

Anyway, I went inside to get my camera but when I returned outside the owls were gone. I went to my backyard for a look, and then there were three. 

I took these photos at around 6:30 a.m. it was still a bit dark out and I was trying to set my camera to a low light setting. When I couldn’t find that, I raised the flash. I was shocked to see how the flash made the bird’s eyes look. 

The ethics and possible threat to an owl's vision from flash photography are debated in this Audubon article. 

I did not detect any negative effects. 

On a nature photography Facebook site, one reader did criticize me for using a flash, saying the burst of intense light is harmful to birds. It was my bad for not knowing all of the features and settings of my still fairly new Canon SX 70. But the flash certainly produced a unique effect and a memorable image. The comments from my Facebook posts are very positive. 

This photo is from a little later in the morning when there was more sunlight, 

Barred Owls are so beautiful! 

Here I was able to capture the three Barred Owls in one shot. Pretty sure this is a family. The offspring is on the ground. Mom or Dad is on the high branch keeping a careful eye on everything. 

This owl, the young one who I believe also took a dip in the bird bath, found an old squirrel carcass to chew on. The week before I had seen a skin on the ground near this spot. So that’s why I’m thinking this is what was going on. 

On the branch, the owl carried this “toy.” Maybe just learning the ropes of being an owl. 

The other owls, presumably family, stayed nearby. 

Like a dog with a bone or rag doll. 

Two Barred Owls can be seen in the background. That’s a Red-winged Blackbird at our feeders. 

Such an eventful day with this family of Barred Owls. It is curious that last June we had a similar visit. We do hear owls  year-round in our neighborhood. 

I like this tight shot. I do not know what that is below the eye. Looks like a growth of some sort, but maybe it’s nothing, hopefully. 

Here’s that skin one more time. 

I’m glad I was home to see and document all this! 

Always know where your camera is and always be sure it is properly charged. You just never know when something neat and unique might be outside!