Barred Owls Popping Up Everywhere
By Leigh Riley

 

This gorgeous barred owl was photographed for The Herald in Rochester by Jeff Mather.

He swivels his brown head almost, but not quite, 360 degrees around, and rests his eyes on something of interest in the dirty snow below. Munching on an English muffin at our kitchen table in Strafford, I wonder what unfortunate rodent is going to meet his maker in the claws of this large barred owl.

The mysterious bird has become a daily visitor to our backyard. Day after day he sits quietly on the same thin branch of a birch tree, occasionally hooting a characteristic "who cooks for you" barred owl call. He’s an unusual guest in a yard dominated by tweeting chickadees. My imagination wonders whether he has flown here from afar, drawn by powers unbeknownst to me. More realistically, however, there is another reason for his appearance. It turns out that there are an awful lot of other people besides me who’ve been seeing owls lately.

They seem to be seeking publicity, drawn especially to members of the press. Besides my owl in Strafford, there was an owl recently which eyed assistant editor Sandy Vondrasek from atop a snowbank in Peth. Another spent several hours with Herald photographer Bob Eddy on Braintree Hill.

The Herald, in fact, has been deluged with barred owl photographs, which has never happened before. So we called the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) in Quechee to see what’s going on.

Indeed, the number of daytime sightings of barred owls has been steadily rising in Vermont, confirmed Allison Start, head of wildlife services at VINS. That’s not because these nocturnal animals have suddenly forgone their loyalty to the night. Rather, the populations of red-back voles and white-footed mice, two of its favorite meals, have plummeted in the Great LakesSt. Lawrence region. As a result, the owls have moved south into the Vermont region, in search of a larger food supply.

Barred owls usually hunt at night in forests that are in close proximity to water, Start explained, but lately they’ve been spotted in broad daylight, trying to nab small rodents nibbling on fallen seed from bird feeders.

Resorting to daytime hunting indicates that the competition amongst the increasing owl population is taking a toll on the bellies of barred owls.

VINS has also responded to a growing number of concerned calls from people who’ve noticed a deteriorating health status in a barred owl, Stard said. The institute has acted quickly, rescuing many malnourished owls and nursing them back to health before releasing them back into the wild.

Looking out the window as I gobble down my breakfast every morning, I can’t help but wonder if one of these days the barred owl in the birch will just disappear. Although it’s a remarkable site to see the night-dweller’s brown and white "bars" up so close in the light, it would be a good sign if we no longer saw them perched in trees and on snow banks in the daytime.

Sure, I’d have nothing to look at while I eat … but that’s what newspapers are for anyway.

(Leigh Riley of Strafford is a student at Endicott College in Beverly Mass., who has been working on an internship with The Herald.)