My visit to Hill Country was punctuated by two memorable experiences with owls. The first was with a BARRED OWL. This owl is at the western edge of its range here in Texas. It likes the mature deciduous groves along the river valleys in Hill Country. I have three or four sites that I check for this bird. During the day I stopped at one and hooted the who cooks for you call. Not long after the owl came flying right in!
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| Barred Owl in flight |
Once the owl had found a perch I stopped hooting. After about twenty seconds it began to hoot loudly at close range. I didn't respond (the right thing to do!). The owl continued to call away in mid day. Surely this is one of the greatest vocalizations in the world of birds.
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| Barred Owl looking for me! |
On an early morning visit to Lost Maples State Natural Area I was surprised to hear an EASTERN SCREECH-OWL. A little bit of walking back and forth and I was able to triangulate its location. After a bit of scanning there it was sitting right in the open!
Not surprisingly I wasn't the only one who heard the owl. Soon there was a flurry of activity as at least ten small passerines started scolding and mobbing the owl. One of the angry mobbers was a male GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLER. This allowed me to get some fantastic images of this beautiful songbird.
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| Golden-cheeked Warbler male |
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| Golden-cheeked Warbler male |
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