Hooters, Owls, and Woots Oh My!

By Kerry - 22 Comments

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!

Give a hoot, reach out and touch an owl. Have a woot of a weekend!

Your Two Cents:

thebrokedown October 18th, 2008

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.
Jean October 18th, 2008

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!
Susy October 18th, 2008

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.
guinness416 October 18th, 2008

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.
Reyn October 18th, 2008

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
Mrs. Micah October 18th, 2008

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!
ABCs of Investing October 18th, 2008

Thanks for the mention. Great owl photo – I’ve NEVER seen an owl in the wild – that would be pretty cool.
Kerry October 18th, 2008

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.
Daizy October 18th, 2008

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.
Kerry October 18th, 2008

@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!
Kelly from Almost Frugal October 18th, 2008

Thanks for the mention. That’s a beautiful creature, and it must have been amazing to see it so close!
Miss Thrifty October 19th, 2008

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?
Christine October 19th, 2008

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 ~.~
Emily October 19th, 2008

Wow! How stunning! You have to get that picture cropped and framed. I’m so jealous right now….
Riscario Insider October 19th, 2008

No one’s commented on your backyard. What a view!
Canadian Capitalist October 20th, 2008

It’s definitely a barred owl. And thanks for the link!
The Digerati Life October 25th, 2008

Beautiful owl! I love owls! And wow, what a beautiful area you have!
Lenora November 18th, 2008

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!
Josh May 25th, 2009

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.)
Kerry May 25th, 2009

@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.
Dan M May 29th, 2009

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.
Bren January 3rd, 2012

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!