By Sally Siko
Tag Archives: barred owls
Spending time with a Barred Owl at the Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC
By: Sally Siko- Admin BWNC
One of the best things about birding is that you never quite know with 100% certainty what you’re going to encounter in the woods.
Sure, we’ve got our expectations but every so often we are presented with the opportunity to be surprised and delighted by what we see.
I this case, I was so happy to spot this handsome Barred Owl hunting for a snack this past weekend while on a trip to the Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet SC.
It was thrilling to get a close up look at such an impressive bird. At one point, I was showing the owl to some other photographers when it took off and zoomed about a foot over our heads only to land briefly to catch an insect on the side of branch. Then it quickly flew to a nearby tree to consume its prize much to the delight of all.
Barred Owls are a year round resident of South and North Carolina and are widely found across both states.
They are primarily found wetland areas, such as around beaver ponds and in open swamps, bottomlands, and nearby marshes. I spotted this one in the woods across the road from the Nature Center at HBSP not far from the marsh boardwalk area.
I think my favorite part of this encounter was that I was able to get a nice close up look at the owls expressive eyes.
They are beautiful!
Speaking of their eyes, did you know that can not turn their eyes in any direction at all?
This is because owls don’t have eyeballs in the traditional sense.
Instead an owls eyes are shaped like fixed tubes, almost like binoculars.
In order to compensate for the lack of directional movement, they can turn their head 270 degrees.
We can rotate our heads only half that far. Incredible!
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast of a DSLR the @canonusa #5Ds
Barred Owl at the Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Park
By: Sally Siko, Admin-Birdwatching NC
A couple of days ago, I took an early morning birding trip to the Carrol Howard Johnson Environmental Park in Fuquay Varina, NC.
I had heard that there were Barred Owls to be found here. Happily, I was not disappointed!
Look at this sweet snoozing one I found sleeping high in the branches of a Long-leaf Pine tree.
One common misconception is that Barred Owls are strictly nocturnal animals (animals that are active at night and inactive during the day). They are most often heard after dark, but Barred Owls might actually be better described as crepuscular.
Crepuscular is a term used to describe animals that are primarily active during the twilight — at dawn and at dusk.
In fact, these birds are known to do the majority of their hunting at dawn and dusk. In addition, they can be quite active during the day (diurnal) when raising owlets or on overcast days such the morning I photographed this one.
Check out the next photo to see his mate who was wide awake 😉
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds
Photos captured with my mighty Canon 5DS. If you are interested in getting shots like these with this 50 MP beast of a camera, please check out the link below to Canon USA.
Birdwatching NC is sponsored by Canon USA and I am proud to be a Canon shooter. After 13 years of trusting my professional photography business to Canon’s line of products, I cannot recommend this company strongly enough. If you have have any questions about my gear, shoot me a message!
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