Lucky Day

I see Barred Owls in my yard a handful of times a year.  This morning, as I sat at the table, one flew into a tree bordering the yard with a bloody bird carcass.  I was thrilled to see it at all, but even more excited when it hung around.  That was an understatement, because it had selected that tree, screened with young leaves, to snooze for the entire day.  I couldn't get a good shot, and if I had not seen it fly there, I its camouflage would have concealed it from our view.  I did notice later that the Blue Jays were quite irritated to have it around and squawked repeatedly in the vicinity.  In the future I'll look for that behavior to identify the owl in the first place.

While getting ready for dinner, my son-in-law shouted that I needed to grab my camera.  This handsome owl was perched in the garden, near the bird feeder.  It sat there for a good long time, and must have seen me in the window, but wasn't flustered at all.  I'm assuming it's the male, and the female is on the nest, hopefully also close by.
Thanks for stopping by!  Stay well!