Barred Owls have branched, fledged, and possibly young still in the nest at
this time. Barred owls in the lowlands went on eggs in early March, and
most have young out of the nest for at least a week now. Those at higher
elevations may still possibly be in the final stages of incubating eggs or
with small young.



Barred owls will stash prey, but not usually in a cavity. Stashed prey is
usually found in crooks of trees. What you described sounds more like a
nest cavity than a stash location.



J. Acker

Bainbridge Island, WA

Owler at sounddsl.com



A voice unspoken (or unwritten) is a voice unheard.

Be heard!



_____

From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Romel
Mackelprang
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 6:05 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Is it too early for barred owl nesting?



At a local spot with many trees, we spotted a pair of barred owls last
Friday perched is some small trees about 20 feet off the ground. We were
right under them when I spotted the first so we just sat there with a great
view for about 45 minutes. Finally, #1 flew off into a high pine where it
was harassed by crows. After about 20 minutes, #2 swooped took off too,
swooping to the ground. I followed the trail in their direction for about
50 yards and found them high in a pine, still being harassed by crows. One
had caught something, although I'm not sure what. A minute later, the one
with the food flew into a hollow space in a dead tree to eat. We don't know
if this was a nest or if it was just eating-we know they use holes in trees
for both.



We didn't go back Sat.-Monday (although we saw a great horned owl at NWR on
Sunday), but we went back Tuesday evening to see if the two barred owls were
still around. After about 1.5 hours of searching we decided to head home
discouraged when low and behold, I spotted one the owls in a tree very close
to the possible nest. We watched this owl for about 30 minutes, although it
really didn't do anything, and tried to see #2 to no avail. Finally #1
called "who cooks for you" and was answered by #2 nestled up next a tree
trunk high up on a branch directly above my head. Number 2 soon flew off
and #1 stayed close to the trunk with the hollowed out hole until we left.



Could this be a nest or do barred owls generally stay in such a small area
(maybe 50 yards in diameter) for 5 days at a time?



Thanks,



R