Hello Rob,
Great report.
I have observed Barred owls hunting and consuming frogs on several occasions. However, I have not been able to identify the species of frogs, so do not know if they reject Red-legged.

Dan Reiff
Mercer Island

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 10, 2013, at 8:56 AM, "Rob Sandelin" <nwnature1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Late afternoon in the deep shadows I saw movement in the woods and took a
> bit of a round about detour to sneak up on whatever it was. Turning out to
> be a Barred Owl perched on the ground. It was very actively moving its head
> back and forth and then it sort of hop flew jumped sideways about 2 foot,
> then hopped again, and then a third time. It moved in a straight line and
> appeared to be playing hopscotch. Then I saw a movement on the ground and
> realized the owl was after a red-legged frog which the owl nailed with its
> next hop. To my surprise the owl picked up the frog and flew right at me,
> landing on a cedar branch not much over my head. Since direct vertical
> viewing was uncomfortable I moved back a few step, expecting the owl to
> fly away. Instead it studied me with great interest, ignoring the morsel in
> its talons. They have this humorous maneuver where they bob their head in a
> circular motion. It looks really goofy and I think the owl took offense as I
> laughed out loud and so it flew away. However it left the frog hanging off
> the branch.
>
> I just checked the branch this morning and the frog had fallen down and had
> its stomach eaten by what looks like mice or rats. So from a Barred owl
> point of view, frogs are fun to catch but not to eat?
>
> Rob Sandelin
> Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
> Snohomish County
>
> You can find my writings and online field guide at:
> http://share2.esd105.org/rsandelin/NWnature/NWNature.htm
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters