Barred Owl Discovery

Last week I heard a Barred Owl calling outside of our house as I got up for work. When I got home I decided to scout around for a place it might like to hang out. It is owl breeding season and just maybe we could have our occasional visitors stay for a while.

Nothing too useful in our backyard but there is a dead tree in the neighbor's yard. As their yard is open and I often venture back there to do a little birding, it was no problem to look around further. Looking at the tree I figured it just might be inviting enough for a cavity nester. Here is how the cavity in that dead tree appears.



I'd say a perfect place to set up house. I walked around to get different angles and try to find some better light. I had to step away from the tree to see directly inside but I immediately liked what I saw through the binoculars. A Barred Owl was inside!



The camera was not doing as well as I had hoped so I took the above image and did a little Photoshop lightening on just the opening and you can just barely make out the owl down in there. The cropped image below reveals it a little better.



Now we just have to wait for a mate to join the party and we could have fuzzy little chicks before ya know it! Stay tuned!!