Wed, 01/13/2021 - 10:00am
Short-eared owls are creatures of open habitats including, in winter, marshlands, farm fields, natural grasslands, and other areas. Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren via Wikimedia Commons
All owls are inherently mysterious to us humans for any number of reasons. We don’t see even the most common species very often, and sometimes our only experience with them is hearing their calls far away in the dark woods. Barred owls are actually relatively common in our area. But how often do you really get to see one? A few winters ago, when snow and ice conditions apparently made it tough for barred owls to find food, the birds began coming out in the daylight to hunt, resulting in a spate of close sightings that made the news. We wrote about it in this column.