Friday Photos: Barred Owl

Wintry weather arrived Tuesday with a storm of sleet, snow, and freezing rain, leaving about an inch of icy surface on the ground. Grass, dirt and rocks peek through, allowing the mice and other small rodents to scurry around.

Wednesday early afternoon there was a quiet tap, tap on the window near my reading chair. A glance out revealed the chickadee, and I decided to take the odds that the bears are hibernating, and put up the bird feeders for the winter season. The chickadees found them immediately, and they spread the news quickly. Today alongside the large flock of chickadees, we also had blue jays, white breasted nuthatches, juncos, a titmouse, a downy woodpecker. A bit later in the day I saw this barred owl in a tree a few hundred feet away, the wind ruffling its feathers a bit. Owls sometimes visit bird feeders, especially in hard winters, hunting both small songbirds and the small rodents that visit bird feeders for the seed that falls to the ground.