The Owls Are Back!

Last evening, twilight time, Joan and I heard odd hooting sounds in the woods. Something(s) were communicating back and forth, and our first thought was, "Owls?" We stepped out onto the deck, and backlit against the western sky was the unmistakable silhouette of an owl! We were excited, to say the least. In a way, this post brings me full circle, because it was our encounters with the barred owl family that inspired me to start a blog. We knew that barred owls tended to be loyal to a territory, and that they had raised two chicks last year, but we still felt lucky that just maybe they would be back again.

This morning exceeded our expectations. A "mob" of blue jays were scolding and scolding from trees near the owl sycamore, and hopping around the owl burrow. They were joined by a bunch of other birds, all of whom were flying around that sycamore and "buzzing" the cavity.  This went on for ten minutes or more, and even after the blue jays left, a little downy woodpecker just wasn't going to quit. She kept sidling up to the hole in the tree, then hopping/flying over to the opening and, at least a couple of times, peering down the hole before landing on the tree trunk. She kept up that circuit for another five minutes or so, as if she liked giving herself a good scare.

And then the owl came out of the burrow for a breath of air. I grabbed some quick photos, which are a touch blurred because they were taken through a window.

Considering that this is the exact same tree and cavity that they used last year, it looks good for more owl chicks this year.

We do wonder at the number of predators in these woods: the red fox pair, the owls, and a pair of red-tailed hawks that visit several times a week. Later this morning one of the red-tailed hawks lit ten feet from the owl tree and stared at it for a long time. They may not appreciate having competition from other predators, perhaps? Would the owl parents consider a fox kit a tasty morsel? Stay tuned.