“Owl season” begins – November, 2023
Today was (for me) the first day of “Owl season” 2023. I sighted this Barred Owl (Strix varia) at Pony Pasture in Richmond, VA (on the falls of the James River) at 11:00 this morning. Drizzly and 40ºF, not a pleasant morning, not lovely for photography, but there is never a bad time to see an owl. More and better pictures soon. This is my fifth consecutive autumn sighting a Barred Owl on this branch:
Barred owl, same branch, fifth consecutive autumn!
So today is November 26, 2023, and a Barred owl showed up on that branch “right on time” in a manner of speaking. The first one I ever saw there was on Black Friday, 2019. And one has shown up there – and I’ve photographed it on that precise branch – during the last week in November every year now. Today marks five consecutive years. To merely say I am “amazed” is a huge understatement. I had no idea anything in nature (except for the river) was so predictable. Have a great day!
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I’m adding this text January 15, 2023. I added a Barred Owl photograph (bottom of page) today. My first Barred Owl photograph in this series is immediately below – top left. Taken Thanksgiving week, 2019. I have continued (during “owl season”) to photograph them on the same branch for five calendar years. That’s four breeding years. I suspect from watching this is the male (when there’s a solo owl). I think the female is in the woods somewhere on a nest. “Owl season” begins roughly at the first frost, e.g. late November in Richmond. It ends approximately at the last frost, early April.
Barred owl January 15, 2023 – fifth calendar year!
First time I saw a pair of Barred Owls together at Pony Pasture in 2023 – Saturday, February 11
I saw this young Barred owl on a branch over the creek at Pony Pasture on Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 9:00 AM.