This morning a Barred Owl left the shelter of the woods and perched on a fencepost in my prairie flower garden. It studied the ground impassively. I figured it was looking for a vole, mole, shrew, or other small mammal that might be making a winter living in the garden.
Birds did not clear the air space for the owl, the way they do when a Sharp-shinned Hawk or a Cooper’s Hawk is around. Although Barred Owls mostly eat small mammals, they also eat some birds. However, my guess is that owls prefer to take birds when they’re asleep at night rather than pursue them on the wing by day. That may be why the other birds in my backyard didn’t seem to be in terror of the visitor.
All the same, songbirds do not like owls. Especially titmice. A Tufted Titmouse landed pretty close to the owl and yelled at it.
Owl looked in the direction of the titmouse but made no move toward it. This was not a catchable moment. The owl wasted little attention and no energy on the bird. After a couple of minutes, the titmouse left.
The owl perched there for half an hour. It looked in all directions, but mostly it watched the ground. I seldom see Barred Owls in such an exposed environment and in full daylight. I wondered if it was having a hard time this winter. Is it going hungry?
Small mammals abound in the biological wealth of the prairie, and even in a native prairie flower garden. There are seeds to eat. Overwintering insect pupae to seek out. Tunnels to hide in.
Small mammals multiply quickly. Owls are vastly fewer and are less surely replaced. After half an hour of studying the ground, the owl spotted something and dropped out of sight among the tall stems of last year’s wildflowers.
I would like to think it found a good meal.
I welcome your comments and like to hear about your experiences with owls. Click the “thought bubble” icon below to comment.
Beautiful photos, of course! And fun to know about the Tufted Titmouse. Maybe it thinks that because its name has "mouse" in it, that the Owl is more of a threat?!
pretty cool face off... and what an amazing photo!!