Who Cooks For You! Who Cooks for You All!

Who Cooks For You! Who Cooks for You All!

On our river trips, we almost always encounter our usual suspects of wildlife: Great Blue Heron, Red Winged Blackbird, Geese, Belted Kingfisher, Mallards...

Then there are those animals who keep us guessing, who keep us coming back to see if we spot them again and again: Deer, Beaver, Muskrat, Mink

and THEN there are those times when you want time to stand still. When you have such an encounter, you want to share it with everyone. This happened recently on a trip and I (Beckie - Canoe Guide) was lucky enough to have led.

Two of the participants, Jim and Wendy, saw something. It was sitting low on a branch just along the water's edge. Upon paddling closer, we were face to beak with an incredibly beautiful Barred Owl. Jim snapped some great photos and just as I was mentioning it was rare to see one that close up... another one was spotted - even closer to us a few paddle strokes down the marshland.  Two Barred Owls in one trip! It was amazing. 

A Barred Owl is not often seen,  but its very identifiable "hoots" are commonly heard: “hoo hoo hoohoo, hoo hoo hoohooahh,”, or its mnemonic sound has been said to sound like “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?” 

Barred Owls call forested streams, lakes, rivers and swamps home, but are often threatened by expansive removal of large dead trees that are suitable for nesting. Other threats include stream pollution, collisions with cars and competition by great horned owls, whose sound is the deep, repetitive WHO WHO WHO.

Check out these photos from Jim and Wendy!

 Can you spot it yet?

How about now?

Now!? This was the second one spotted!