As you might imagine, spring comes rather late for us in Wisconsin. The wait is long, but the reward is great. Lately the weather has been cool and wet, but the backyard is an captivating place this spring with all the birds (and other wildlife) that visit. Especially exciting this year is a barred owl pair (and presumably a nest!). The two owls have stayed very close by for a few months, reliably since about March although they are around regularly throughout the year. I also heard young calling (begging for food) on several nights earlier in the spring (a pretty eerie screeching), but have yet to definitively locate the nest. It is very likely they are using an owl nest box in my next door neighbor's yard since we have seen an owl entering the box a couple of times. Just about every evening the pair wakes up, calling back and forth to each other with their "Who cooks for you...who cooks for you all?" call, or some portion of it. I always laugh when they just do the emphasized "ALLLL" trill note since it sounds like a lazy whine.
Their antics provide some reliable entertainment for us to listen and watch them in the evenings (sometimes for an hour or more before dark). Teddy hears them and has seen them fly before, but is much more interested in the deer and turkeys than the owls. The second photo below Scott took of one of the owls when it was checking out Teddy. He's too big to be bothered with, but too small to be much of a disturbance. It's pretty wild how the owls could care less about traffic, lawn mowing, kids playing, dogs barking, the distant shooting range, and all kinds of neighborhood noise. I asked my neighbors if they had even seen the owls in their yard- they hadn't noticed! Aside from the owls' very distinctive call, they also often sit close by or even together. Their flight is nearly silent, but movement is easily detected because of their size. When they are sitting still (and now as the leaves finally emerge), they are really hard to see due to their cryptic colors.
My eyes are peeled for the young to come out of the box. Hopefully we will have a few more owls to watch very soon!
Check out the barred owl profile on All About Birds for more photos and owl calls. I have been trying to take a video of their evening routine to at least capture their calls- no luck yet!
Watching intently, but rarely disturbed by all the neighborhood activity.
Barred owl trying to figure out Teddy. Photo by Scott.
Always near by, but incredibly camouflaged. Can you find the owl? Photo by Scott.
