Papa Barred Owl

I was headed out back to get the grill fired up when I noticed a figure in the Cherry Laurel just beyond the deck. The baby Barred Owls relocated to the wetlands not long ago so I was surprised when I saw Papa Owl sitting in our backyard staring intently at...something. Not sure what, exactly, but he was so focused that I could have grabbed his tail feathers if I had wanted to. I don't agree with harassment of that sort, though. I get to hold owls and other birds often enough.

I had to go inside and get the camera and then I had to back off a lot to even get the owl in focus. Seriously, I was able to walk up to and around this guy without it caring at all.



The Barred Owl continued to stare into the opposite yard and then began clucking as it thought it found something of interest. The Sun was setting and it was more difficult to get any good lighting spots than anything else.



As I moved around in tight circles, the sound of my feet crunching the leaves below caused the Barred Owl to look down in search of what might be making the sound. Fortunately, they don't eat toes. That I know of...



Before it flew off, it gave up a big yawn. I will admit that I had to work really hard in post-processing to get anything of use from this shot. The harsh backlighting nearly killed it since my flash was not happy with me today. But I felt I had to share the moment.



Time to try and track down the young ones when I can but having a cooperative owl for a while was amazing. Since they have breed here for three years now I guess they are totally used to me.