I’ve got a pair of hooters in my backyard. I don’t usually see them during the day, but I sure hear them “woot it up” at night. So imagine my surprise when one of them landed on my deck yesterday. My eyes nearly bugged outta my brain. Check out my hooter!
If you happen to know anything about owls, then please let me know. My “better half” and I are having a disagreement over the species of this great owl. Is this a Spotted Owl or a Barred Owl? Since I’m the one who stood ONE METER AWAY from this magnificent bird, I’m inclined to think it’s a Barred Owl, just look at the stripes!
Anybird, my heart is still racing from seeing such a creature so close! When I snapped the photo I was near enough to reach out and touch it. Unbelievable. I then grew a brain and realized this birdie is a bird of prey and could rip my face off with it’s talons. Silly Squawks.
Still, I was of no concern to this hunting animal. Check out it’s feathers, eyes, wings, and coy look at me. Love. Swoon. Woot.
Enough of birds. Time for links. I’ve been wooting it up in my RSS Reader this week. Here are some highlights!
Health and Foodism:
- Swearing at the Bill Collector | Clever Dude
- Health Insurance – do you have it? | Blunt Money
- Pumpkin Spice Brioche | Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
- Missing the middle: French fries do get fat | Ethicurean
Investing:
- Opportunity in Real Return Bonds | Canadian Capitalist
- Investment Asset Classes | ABCs of Investing
- College Students Guide to Roth IRAs | Broke Grad Student
- Obama vs McCain: The Presidential Candidates Sound Off On Your Money | The Digerati Life
Wealth:
- What is Your Definition of Rich? | Frugal Dad
- Why only thinking About Affordability Makes You Poor | Money Ning
- 25 More Frugal Things To Do | Almost Frugal
- Don’t Pay for Mortgage and Credit Repair | Mrs. Micah
Carnivals:
- Festival of Frugality | Aridni
- Carnival of the Green | Thoughts on Global Warming
- Make it from Scratch | Stop the Ride
- Carnival of Green Crafts | Crafting a Green World
Give a hoot, reach out and touch an owl. Have a woot of a weekend!
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Your two cents:
Wow! Beautiful. I have at least one owl in my neighborhood that I hear very late at night on occasion. Makes me feel good to hear it in such a developed area, and I often go outside to experience it a little clearer.
Oh, and I vote barred.
What a beautiful creature! Thanks for sharing. Several years ago, I saw a beautiful white owl – I took it as a sign – of what, I was never sure, but I’d never seen one before or since!
Oh wow! We used to have a big pair of great horned owls that would sit up above our house in the trees. I love them because they kept my garden free of chipmunks & rabbits (much to the delight of my salad bowl). They have since moved on and now Chiot’s Run is once again overrun with chipmunks & rabbits and my salad bowl is empty unless I put a fence around the lettuce.
I’ve been looking into how to attract owls & birds of prey to my little garden to help with rodent control. Perhaps an owl house would work, probably be much easier than taking care of a pet falcon.
Beautiful photo. The last non-zoo one I saw was a big barn owl on a highway in Ireland years and years ago
They’re magnificent creatures.
That’s a really pretty picture. I have never seen one that not in an aviary or something. I wish I could see one in person too
Amazing! I’ve only ever seen owls at the zoo when I was a kid. I had thought of them of shu, but I guess this guy is an exception. Perhaps he also knows that he could rip your face off with his talons!
Thanks for the mention. Great owl photo – I’ve NEVER seen an owl in the wild – that would be pretty cool.
My heart is still racing from seeing this owl soooo close. I keep looking on my deck to see if it has returned.
@Jean I know what you mean about “a sign”. As soon as I saw this owl fly onto my deck, I felt something. Seriously.
@thebrokedown Yes, it’s got to be a barred owl.
@Susy I have no idea how to attract owls into an area. I think they are very sensitive to their environment. I live in the middle of a forest with no development around me, so I expect this helps foster the owl environment. I always hear them at night…I’ve just never seen one like this before.
@guinness416 Owls are magnificent. They are HUGE. I am still surprised with HOW BIG this particular owl was. Massive.
@Reyn I wish we all could see an owl in person. My first thought when I saw it, “I’ve got to take a picture for the readers.”
@MrsMicah Yeah, this owl was not bothered at all with my presence just an arm reach away. Amazing.
@ABCs of Investing I’m still in awe. The wing span on this bird was amazing. Gorgeous. Stunning.
I think my comment must have gotten filtered because I put a link to wikipedia’s barred owl article. Anyway…your owl looks just like the barred owl pictures on wikipedia. I vote for barred too. Very cool owl pics.
@Daizy Just checked the Akismet spam filter and I didn’t see your comment. Since you’ve commented before, anything you write goes live right away.
Here’s the Wikipedia link to the Barred Owl:
Barred Owl
Yay! 2 votes for barred owl!
Thanks for the mention. That’s a beautiful creature, and it must have been amazing to see it so close!
My goodness, that owl is incredible! My heart would go pitter-patter if I looked out the window and saw it there. I wonder what (s)he was doing out in the daytime?
Yes, a simply gorgeous creature. Super and speedy work with the camera, Fox
Can I respond gently to Susy, I don’t want to ruffle any feathers … Susy, build a nice fencing around your veggies. I love chipmunks and bunnies; sometimes ask myself why in the world God/Universe/Natural Selection made them so darn cute. And I love birds of prey, too; a close-up of one graces my wall and has helped me through some rough hours….And of course I know, though have not quite come to terms with, the laws of nature … But it seems to me that if you don’t put up that fencing, you’re inviting the rodents in, in effect farming them
I say let nature be natural as much as possible, do as little harm as possible (“Live and let live”)
Anyhoot, have an airy day, all ~.~
Wow! How stunning! You have to get that picture cropped and framed. I’m so jealous right now….
No one’s commented on your backyard. What a view!
It’s definitely a barred owl. And thanks for the link!
Beautiful owl! I love owls! And wow, what a beautiful area you have!
Hi,
Today I was walking past the french doors to my deck and was absolutely SHOCKED to see a Barred Owl sitting on the railing looking straight into my house! He flew off before I could even move – so no chance at a picture.
I went online to try and find a picture that was similar (I didn’t know what kind it was). Your pic here could have been MY pic, had I been able to take one! He looked exactly the same (including the deck railing!). I live in Missouri, so I did a search on Missouri Convservation’s website, and there’s no doubt it’s a Barred Owl (there are no Spotted Owls in Missouri).
I, too, was blown away by how huge “my” owl was! Of course, I’ve never seen one so close before – and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Barred Owl. The Great Horned Owls are the most common in Missouri. I hear lots of hooting at night, though, but not sure which kind I’m hearing.
The funniest thing is, I had been in my living room with my 4 year old son, moving around and putting things away, and there was a video playing on our TV. The angle that the owl was sitting at was in a direct line to the TV, and it looked like he had been watching it! :O (There was a cartoon on.) He also had to have seen my son and I moving around the room. It was daytime (late afternoon), but cloudy outside, so it would have been easy for him to see in. When I walked from the living room into the eating area where the french doors are, that’s when I saw him. I immediately froze and said, “Wow!” The owl looked straight at me for about 1 second, turned his head, then flew off (so beautiful and graceful!). I didn’t even have time to call my son into the room to see him.
What a unique experience that may never be repeated in my lifetime! Living in the woods affords some wonderful opportunities to see wildlife, but having them come within feet of your doorstep is still very rare and delightful!
I’m still waiting to see a bobcat in the wild…
Thanks for sharing your pic and experiences!
Amazing picture! I work at a wildlife rehab center in Oregon, and we have both a Northern Spotted Owl and a Barred Owl; and this is DEFINITELY a Barred Owl. (Note the color; Spotted Owls are a little darker brown than this Barred. This one is more grey like you would expect to see in a Barred.)
@Josh THANK YOU for answering the Barred vs. Spotted Owl question. My heart still races when I recall seeing this amazing owl sitting on my deck watching the world go by. I stood only a few feet from the owl when I photographed it. So happy you found my photo.
ahhh you’re so fortunate to have a camera around when you saw one of these. The first time I saw one, I was out in the woods in the morning without a camera. But we had a staring contest for a few minutes before he moved on. It was amazing.
Definitely a barred owl. I have been observing a pair of mated Barred owls in Forest Park, MO and also two sets of mated Great Horned Owls in the St. Louis area. Amazing owls! The more you watch the owls the more amazing they become. I recently found a female Great Horned Owl’s nest snag for this year. She is nesting already. I have been fortunate to get very close to several owls this past year. Simply beautiful!
I know for sure that this is a Barred Owl. I have four living around the house, but there’s one I call Feathers. I have found three of his beautiful feathers, Feathers favorite perch, and his nest. Every day he sits up in the same teee until dusk. I’ve seen the mom catch something in a small tree outside my window and fly into the nest. Also, he makes a territorial call that sounds like a small laugh, building up to a monkeys call. Any other calls include a who ho ho ho, who ho ho coooooo, ho ho ho wha, or just a plain hoo. You can usually hear them a lot in the late winter, during heir mating season. Or any other time of year… They can be easily disturbed during he day, and will actually hoot, shift on the branch, or even attempt to hunt.
It’s Vanner again… I’m an owl follower and if you want anything else on owls(barred owls) just let me know!
This goes to Bren… Did you know that the Great Horned Owls you see are probably there because of the Barred Owls? The Great Horned Owl is the only major predator to the Barred Owl.