Hello All,
This past April, while exploring one of my favourite wooded areas in Ottawa, Ontario, I was lucky enough to hear a single ‘hoot’ from an owl. I began scanning the trees and searching the area, and minutes later and 50 yards from where I originally heard the call, I came upon a barred owl perched high in a tree.
Within minutes, another barred owl was spotted perched a few trees over. The excitement was quite overwhelming, as I was fairly confident this was a nesting pair.
The next couple of weeks were spent capturing the behaviour of both owls – including preening, vocalizing, pellet regurgitating, and sleeping. Finally, I discovered the location of the nest. It was in the hollowed trunk of a broken tree, approximately 15 feet up from the ground.
Listening to the two owls vocalize back and forth was quite the experience. Barred owls have a very distinctive call and they would periodically ‘hoot’ to each other throughout the day. Here is some video footage I captured of an exchange.
On June 11th I discovered three chicks had successfully hatched. My guess is they had hatched approximately 3 to 4 weeks earlier. Here they are in the crowded nest.
This past week I discovered that the first chick had left the nest. It will not fledge for another 3 to 4 weeks, but they are excellent climbers and are classed as ‘branchers’ at this stage. This little one was perched on a downed tree, approximately 30 yards from the nest site. I was fortunate enough to spend almost an hour with it, no more than 10 feet away.
I was very excited to capture the following footage of this chick, regurgitating two pellets, then jumping on to a tree truck and climbing up some 15 feet.
It has been a wonderful experience observing and documenting this barred owl family. I will be back out in the woods this week, as all three chicks should be out of the nest and interacting with one another and their parents.
Yours in the Outdoors,
Justin
What a wonderful experience – sounds like great fun.
THANKS JUSTIN ! Amazing pics..first time that I have seen this owl “family” you did a great job..First finding them & then “patiently” doing the filming …Your outdoor friend in Manitoba…George Isaak
Thanks, George – has definitely been a fun experience! I’ve been a bit lax on posting new stuff as of late – will get some more images up soon. Hope you are enjoying some outdoor adventures in the west.
Cheers and All the Best,
Justin
simply amazing #JHoff! you take me and show me places that i do not have the patience to enjoy. keep it up!
Thanks, Dale – appreciate the kind words!
Hi Justin…nice job….amazing opportunities when one is patient.
Have been watching your site for updates but did not see anything recent. I had tried to get to Algonquin a couple or three times but something always came up. I was up to Longlac and Thunderbay in April….a long time friend that I knew back when I was 17 or 18 and with whom I got to participate in jam sessions in the summer of 2012 and summer and fall of 2013…he died from a long struggle with cancer…so went up to Thunderbay for the funeral and then back down to Longlac for the rest of the week. We played at a “Celebration of Life” for him in Caramat (south of Longlac) where lived since I know him in my high school years. There were about 10 of us that participated. So we shall miss him this summer.
Sandy and I are heading up there on the 10th of July….we stay for a week then I take her to Thunderbay to catch flight to Toronto and train back to Brockville. Get to do some fishing and pickin….playing for a summerfest in Longlac and a fish derby in Caramat and a couple of “informal” porch jams which I always enjoy. I will stay back for an extra week’s fishing then home. Daughter Karen and I go up near the end of August…her and I will fish for a week then she trains back to Toronto and I stay back for another week or so to fish
When I was there in April (around the 25th) a Finnish friend took me out ice fishing for splake…they still had 34 inches of solid ice….we got about 10 splake all together.
Have my boat pretty well ready to go….the one I outfitted last summer to get Karen out fishing…major bucks for new trailer, motor etc. ….but now it’s mine….not the banks!!! Mounted a down rigger yesterday and have my fish finder ready to go. Looking forward to both trips. Hopefully stop in Algonquin for a couple of nights on the way home and hope to be there for 10 days leading up to Thanksgiving.
Nice to hear from you and….great pictures !! All the best….take care
Bev
p.s. off to see doctor tomorrow….I was put on 21 day drug schedule for a tick bite….we could not get it off and emergency suggest we go in to have it removed which we did. Have not had any energy for the past week…so no biking or walking…and sore muscles etc.; pharmacist thinks it might be a reaction or side effects of the drugs. Ticks are very very plentiful here and getting worse. I take all the right precautions but hard to avoid them entirely (staying indoors not an option for an outdoors guy). Do you have them in Ottawa?? Had an email from Kathy and Tony…he had one on too. I think I had 6 last summer and was on medication three times!! Damn…..
Hope your Mom and Dad are well.
How fortunate to be able to observe and photograph these beautiful owls. Wonderful post.
What amazing pictures and videos! Thank you for sharing your owl experiences…
Justin, the pictures of the barred owl are gorgeous! Question… I am teaching myself how to paint. I was wondering if you would grant me permission to print one of the barred owl images to a slide (to project / enlarge / draw) so that I could try painting it. I know you sell your images on cards, etc. I would not be selling my work–in fact, it probably would be for my eyes only. But I wanted to be respectful of your ownership of your work. Thanks for your consideration.
Hi Linae,
Thanks for your note. Feel free to print any of the images to paint, if only for non-sale use. No problem.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Justin
Hello there. Your photos are incredible. I also discovered a barred owl nest this spring. The similarity of the nests is remarkable I was just floored when I saw your nest shots.
Congrats on finding the little brancher on the ground and getting such adorable shots. Although I saw the owlets climb to the top of the tree snag I never saw them on the ground. When I went back they were already safe high up in a nearby tree.
If you want to check out our owl nest nearBrighton Ontario you can go to my blog and choose my post about barred owl babies growing up.
Leslie
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for your note. Yes, it was definitely an exciting time following this barred owl family. And I was very lucky to find one of the ‘branchers’ grounded for the day :)
Will check out your blog. Have spent quite a bit of time shooting photos at Presquille in Brighton, so know the area well.
Cheers,
Justin