Saturday, June 15, 2019

Sunbathing Barred Owl

In the past few weeks two young Barred Owls have been regularly showing at my feeders and water feature during dry days.  More recently it has been only one.  This afternoon, alerted by a ferocious bark from the dog, we found the one had returned.  In fact earlier it had been overhead in the trees above the driveway where the song birds were equally as excited as the dog.  The owl does a lot of sitting, so it is hardly mesmerizing to watch, but today it jumped down from the bird bath and spread its wings on the ground to sunbath(?). 








More likely it was using the opportunity to rid itself of mites and otherwise keep its feathers in good condition. As you probably know already, owls' eyes are fixed in their sockets, so the only way owls can see what is taking place around them is by twisting their heads.  It looks odd, but it works, and along with an incredible sense of hearing and remarkable eyesight, they can easily locate their prey.



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