Those of you who read Mark’s blog know we recently spotted an owl we hadn’t seen before and couldn’t identify. I was unable to get a picture as it flew off just seconds after I ran for the camera. We talked about what we saw, looked through all our birding books and checked the internet and are pretty certain it’s a Barred Owl. We’ve been watching the trees every night hoping to catch another glimpse of this bird so we can get a positive ID but it’s been very elusive.
Barred Owl - not my picture but I wish it were!
Last night I was manning the barbecue when I heard a loud ‘POP’ and looked up just in time to see the owl fly off into the forest with a screamimg squirrel in his grasp. Unfortunately, it all happened so quickly I still couldn’t get a positive ID but I now know his appearance last week wasn’t a random event. And…it looks like we’re on the same dining schedule.
So, I’ll be watching the trees at dinner hoping to get a better look at just who’s taking our squirrels. I also have a feeling this same bird is responsible for the lack of flying squirrels this year. We were seeing three or four a night earlier in the spring but now we have none.
