Out looking for the owl nest...

As my faithful readers know, we have a pair of Barred owls nesting in our backyard forest around the gully. I heard him calling April 18, April 22, May 6, May 13, and, again, from the very back of the property May 16th. I thought he'd gone, and his chicks had fledged. Not so.

He's been posing for me.



He has been around awhile. This video has his call, as he and his partner are singing to one another, four weeks ago. Basically, she sits on the nest a month, then they feed the chicks for a month. My granddaughters were playing in the forest gully when they scared off the owl. I heard them again, in the same spot, and thought I'd record them. It's a lovely song!

I heard them calling back and forth:

'Who-cooks-for-you? Who-cooks-for-you-aaallll?'

Barred owl from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I knew it was about time that the chicks would be demanding food. Out I went just prior to dusk. I heard the chick, and narrowed it down to this tree! I believe there is only one chick.

When I approached the tree, the lone chick stopped its horrible wailing. I walked all around the tree, which is on the far side of the wetland/gully, and then decided on a vantage point to wait for the adults. The bright green cat tails look yummy in the bottom of the bog.

Here it is, wailing in the tree.


Barred owl chick howl from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Out near dusk, Bob said to listen for the owl chicks begging for food. I only heard one, and it is the most mournful sound. The parents were off getting food. I haven't seen the female, only the male in the day time, sleeping on a branch.

I heard something else in the forest, farther up the wetland, which is knee-deep, or so. Quietly, I
prayed it was a deer. It was not. I knew I shouldn't run, despite having an incredible urge to do so. I kept talking to myself, stay put, don't move.
I froze, then, as he moved left, I thought I might just back up a bit. It could smell me, for sure.
It slowed down and, thankfully, is a normal bear and was afraid of me. We do have hunters in the forest. People can't be a good thing for them.
This is from our backyard!

At the end, you can watch as I began to slowly move back, and crunched the leaves. It saw me and ran quickly up the hill. I went into the house and had a glass of wine.

Bear went over the mountain from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.