I meant to post this on Monday. In the early hours of Monday morning (about 2:15 am), I was awakened by loud, strange sounds. As I got awake enough to focus, I noticed a pattern that sounded a bit like the Barred Owl hooting but mixed with lots of other raucous sounds. The source of the sound was obviously very close to our house, but I wasn�t able to get to a window fast enough to find the culprit before the sounds stopped. Yesterday, I did research on Birds of North America Online and found the following about Barred Owl sounds � �Raucous Hoot/Caterwauling. Associated with dueting pairs, this lasts up to 2 min and consists of a raucous jumble of cackles, hoots, caws and gurgles. It was heard at 28% (n = 25) of Virginia sites tested with call playback by McGarigal and Fraser (1985). Call also given occasionally when large prey are being subdued.� I�m not sure if there were two voices or just one, so it might have been a single Barred Owl or a pair that I heard (no signs of subdued prey lying around in the daylight later). The recording of a Barred Owl caterwauling on the BNA Online site was exactly what I heard. Very cool and an interesting way to add a yard bird for this year.
Jim Nelson
Bethesda, Montgomery County
--
|