Sunday Science/We have one!

One what you might be asking? Well, a barred owl here in our trees. We’ve been hearing at least two of them hooting all day long and into the early evening for the past couple of months. I caught a glimpse of it the other evening in flight over the house. Selena is in total awe listening to it hoot most of the day, and since it’s hoot tends to echo, she can never quite figure out which direction it is in. I would love for her to be able to see it.

The picture was taken from the Internet. I would love to see one and get my own picture like this. These owls go by many names the most popular name is the Hoot Owl. They are one of the very few owls that hoot through the day. They nest in a tree cavity and instead of building their own nests will take over a nest of a squirrel.

These owls feed on mice, but are not unknown to eat small mammals such as grouse, hawks, doves, and have been known to wade into waters for duck. It is quite fitting we would have them appearing here since we have an abundance of doves in our area.

The though at one time was that loggers and men were killing off the spotted owl population. While yes, we have played a part, it has been discovered that as the barred owls migrated to our areas, they in fact have been the greatest threat and contributor to the loss of the spotted owl.

Selena and I have fun listening to this owl, possibly more then one a male and a female for several weeks, trying to figure out which tree they might be nesting in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are not nesting in our large sequoia tree. I know one evening just before sunset we did observe one in flight just over our house. We will continue to make our observations and I hope we are able to find some owl pellets, that would give us a better idea of where they are nesting.