Barred Owl

I was able to find a lot of the birds I hoped to find in Florida while I was planning my trip.  I had read about a Barred Owl's nest at Corkscrew before arriving so this was something I wanted to see.  We found it because of the collection of people standing below.  They were discussing the absence of the "limbing" out juveniles.  We say "branching" in these parts.  But anyway they all walked off without finding the young owl.  As soon as they walked away the  epiphytic plant on the branch above shook out it's feathers.  The owl had been sitting above our heads the whole time.  I later saw the adult which I found when it began to call, a thrilling sound, but never got a good shot of it. 

Northern Saw-whet Owl

I stopped by to see the Northern Saw-whet Owl again today.  I don't know if this is the same owl I saw earlier this year but these photos are from two separate visits to the same little owl.  You can see from the first two photos that he's sitting in exactly the same spot, just in a different position.

Songbird Trail

This awesome Great Horned Owl could be why I wasn't seeing any songbirds on the Songbird Trail.  The trail is part of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge and pretty much ended right after I saw the owl.  It was my second stop on an all day birding trip I took to New Jersey on Thursday.  Anyway I only got these two shots of the owl.  He heard me take the first one and gave me that look before flying off.