Coming Home to Roost

Barry's newest favorite branch

Waiting for mice.

Chowing down after a successful grab.

Camouflage works! Where'd he go?

I guess Barry the barred owl always was home here in the woods around the house, but now he has started to choose trees right off of the deck as a preferred roost. And for good reason. After he showed up late this morning, we watched him pounce on and eat two mice. My speculation in an earlier blog appears to be accurate. The mice have tunnels and nests on the steep slope in front of the house so they can benefit from the uneaten bird seed that falls off the deck. Barry just hangs out on a branch about even with the deck, watches the ground below and then swoops down for a meal once he spots a mouse. He has been perched in the birch tree or one of the other trees just a few meters from the deck all day today. Barred owls have several other names of which the most common is "hoot owl". It was in fact a barred owl that started up the Hooters restaurant chain back in the 70s. Their only natural enemy is the Great Horned Owl which preys on barred owls. Talk about irony. We're wondering if Barry didn't polish off Rocky the flying squirrel for dinner one night since we haven't seen Rocky for several weeks. Our five red squirrels were no where to be seen today. Whether Barry got Rocky or not, the red squirrels seem to have a healthy respect for owls as a predators. We're also wondering if Barry isn't really Brenda. The female barred owl is bigger than the male and our bird seems to be a pretty good size. To be continued...we hope.