Weekend visitor of the feathered variety

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We had the pleasure of playing host to this beautiful feathered specimen for over three hours this weekend!

This mature Barred Owl (tks Rick for assisting with identification) roosted on a branch of our red pine yesterday, and was quite content to hang out there most of the morning.

 

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If not for the crows harassing this fellow, I wouldn’t have even known it was there. He appeared to be sleeping most of the time but always knew we were watching him; regardless of which door we came out to take photos.

 

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It is fabulous to see these birds around . I know Iggy told me about Great Grey Owl sightings this winter which is reminiscent of 6-7 winters ago when owls were staging in our region.

Well, I’ve never had to pleasure of seeing a Barred Owl before, let along one hanging out less than 75 feet from my house!

Apart from taking a nap, I figure this guy was keeping an eye on squirrels in the neighbour’s property. Either that or was hunting meadow voles or cottontails in the back field.

Hey, who says hunters can’t enjoy the beauty of nature!

Outdoorsguy