We have been thrilled by the presence this week at the Blair Outdoor Education Centre of a barred owl – Strix varia.\u00a0 It was first sighted – not by the “outdooredguy” – but by a parent volunteer with a class who, it turns out, works professionally with birds!!\u00a0 Grade 1 classes are visiting this week, studying Daily and Seasonal Cycles, and Characteristics of Living Things.\u00a0 Only a few kids in that morning’s class saw the owl, but each of the classes since has been able to locate it at some point during our walk.<\/p>\n
Barred owls are typically residents of the southern Shield – Muskoka\/Parry Sound\/Killarney\/Algonquin\/Haliburton.\u00a0 So far this fall there have been a number of sightings reported in southern Ontario, an indication that this species may be\u00a0 experiencing a shortage of food in it’s home turf.<\/p>\n
The owl has been observed on three occasions successfully securing a meal – it’s flight from the perch is short, silent and deadly accurate.\u00a0 Owls hunt more by sound than sight, plucking unsuspecting prey like mice and voles from under the leaf litter.\u00a0 The video below shows it eating a mole it caught before my eyes.\u00a0 Late this afternoon I saw it regurgitate a pellet – the indigestible fur and bones of its prey – so I’ll be poking around in the leaves myself tomorrow trying to locate this prize.<\/p>\n