A Barred Owl in the Birch Tree

Barry the Barred Owl

Today was a stay inside and watch the snowstorm and the birds at the feeders kind of day. On the birding front there was no real excitement for most of the day. All of the usual suspects showed up, the chickadees in large numbers, our flock of 10 or so doves, a couple of bluejays, the hairy woodpecker family (Harry and Harriet), a female downy woodpecker and a lone redpoll. Then around 4:30, just as it was starting to get dark, Catherine looked up from her computer and asked me excitedly what kind of bird was roosting in the white birch tree that is just off of our deck. From the profile I could immediately tell that the bird was a fairly large owl. After lots of ohs and ahs and a few looks through the binos we were able to identify it as a barred owl. All Summer I had heard a barred owl at night (usually between 10:00 and midnight) and then this Fall, nothing. I wondered what had happened to "our" owl. Left for the tropics? Left for Quebec? Bad case of laryngitis? Killed by a vicious mouse during a night hunt? Whatever the story was this Fall, "our" barred owl or a suitable replacement has moved back to the area. Hopefully we'll again start hearing his/her pleasant hooting as we lay in bed at night during what is shaping up to be a long cold snowy Winter. As you can tell from the photos, our camera is a pretty simple point and shoot affair that doesn't have much of a zoom and really can't handle low light conditions. I was finally able to get a couple of photos of our owl by going out the front door and creeping around on the deck. Unfortunately the snow falling caught the flash each time, obscuring the tree and the owl. Still, you can make out Barry the Barred owl in the middle left of each photo perched in the birch tree. There's even a faint red-eye if you look closely.