We had a lovely visitor on our back fence this morning - a Barred Owl!

[va3dso@mastodon.social]

And finally, a slightly closer shot of the owl. I haven't seen it since.

[coolinthegame@social.anoxinon.de]

@VA3DSO

[tattie@eldritch.cafe]

@VA3DSO well, did you kick him out, then?
He must've been barred for a reason.

[rejoineu@mastodon.online]

@VA3DSO Don't owls eat squirrels? What happened next? Pictures please.

[robynnuthall@mastodon.nz]

@VA3DSO Amazing!!

[lepaggoth@mastodon.social]

@VA3DSO my local squirrels dropped a big bird from the tree. I saw the bird very briefly from the back, so not sure what it was, but suspected a hawk.

[va3dso@mastodon.social]

@RejoinEU Weirdly nothing happened next. The squirrels went back to foraging in the backyard and the owl just chilled on the fence. At some point in the afternoon, the owl flew away.

[va3dso@mastodon.social]

@lepaggoth Oh wow! That is crazy! I've seen one red-tailed hawk near by backyard. It took a run at a rock pigeon that was trying to eat from my bird feeders, but the pigeon managed to elude it.

[nuwagaba2@mastodon.social]

@VA3DSO
Did they cause any harm the first time they saw them?

[sundew@beige.party]

@VA3DSO I feel like some of their kin may have seen an owl before - very briefly.

[dataangler@vis.social]

@VA3DSO two years ago I heard wild alarm calls from Wood thrushes in the woods, and I went in and sure enough they were trying to intimidate a barred owl. Which was kind of stationary and unmoved for a bit.

[va3dso@mastodon.social]

@nuwagaba2 No, nobody got hurt. I was amazed that the owl just sat there. It wasn't aggressive at all - it just wanted to nap. Once the squirrels figured out they couldn't scare him off, they just went back to their squirrelly business.

[bougiewonderland@freeradical.zone]

@VA3DSO snug

[mediocratese@climatejustice.social]

@VA3DSO Was large was it? If it was small it looks to me like a Northern Saw-whet Owl. ‍️

[nuwagaba2@mastodon.social]

@VA3DSO
Nature is really amazing. Thanks for capturing and sharing such a wonderful moment with us. Did you keep your owl as a pet?

[va3dso@mastodon.social]

@mediocratese it seemed fairly big to me. I was wondering the same thing though. The key is my owl has dark brown eyes and a Saw-whet has bright yellow eyes. So I’m pretty sure it’s a barred owl.

[va3dso@mastodon.social]

@nuwagaba2 no but it is welcome to visit anytime it wants!

[cheriecreationstruck@birds.town]

@VA3DSO Awesome!

[nuwagaba2@mastodon.social]

@VA3DSO
Owls rarely visit a place twice unless they have found something good and peaceful. Let's hope it visits again. Can I share with you about my project?

[dekablack@mastodon.social]

@VA3DSO Weird squirrel!