The Visitor in the Night
About 5 AM, I heard an owl outside the house. I went out to check, since owls and hawks don’t mix well. I wanted to make sure the owl wasn’t near Rusty. The owl turned out to be perched high in an oak tree in the front yard.
The owl proved to be a pretty cooperative subject, continuing to sit in the tree while I got together the camera, flash, and big 12V flashlight. Unfortunately, the owl was still about 75 feet away from the camera, so this is a pretty severe crop of the original image.
Appears the be a Barred Owl. And it’s a great picture — worth submitting to some owl ID site.
Wow! Great barred owl shot! I didn’t know they didn’t get along with hawks. We have both barred owls and red-shouldered hawks in my neighborhood, although the owls are only around at night.
We’ve had more experience with Great Horned Owls, which definitely do not get on with hawks. Apparently, I’m not tuned in enough yet to distinguish owl species by call.
Speaking of Great Horned Owls, I think I saw one perched on a street lamp on my way back from the grocery store just now.