An Unexpected Lifer

     On Friday afternoon (5/30/14), I wanted to see what I could find towards the end of migration, so I headed over to Bowman's Hill with my mom and my aunt.  While trying to identify a species of flycatcher, I heard an owl call "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?".  Without thinking, I assumed that it was just a Great-horned Owl.  However, after it called a few more times and I actually thought about it, I realized that it was actually a Barred Owl.  I have never heard or seen one of these owls before, and I was dying to.  I crept over to where it was calling and searched for almost half an hour.  However, just before I gave up, I looked straight above me just to see the Barred Owl looking right back at me. 
     I went back on Saturday evening at around the same time (7:00 PM) to see if it was still there.  Soon after we arrived, I heard Blue Jays going crazy near the same spot that it was in last time.  My mom then spots it flying across the river.  After it being scared off from a few different perches by the Blue Jays, it finally stood it's ground in a large Redwood tree.  While my mom was keeping an eye on it, I walked back to and over the bridge to get a better look from the other side.  However, while I was doing that, my mom saw another fly across the river.  Without knowing, I kept walking, and was lucky enough to get great views of this elusive lifer.

Barred Owl

Barred Owl