Baby Barred Owl Watch 2024

Helen, May 7, 2023

Helen can be identified by the short eyebrow markings, with one eyebrow looking a little more hooked than the other. The eyebrows are not as connected to the ‘T’ that goes down the face. Compared to Bob, Helen’s body feather streaks are bolder.

Bob, March 9, 2023

Bob can be identified by a slightly broader-looking face with more distinct eyebrow markings. The eyebrows are longer than Helen’s, and one is slightly raised. The streaking in the body feathers is thinner than Helen’s. Generally, Bob seems a little lighter in colour than Helen.

At first, I couldn’t find the owls and I was getting worried, but then in an unusual turn of events, Bob emerged from the nest which I thought was a good sign. He flew off straight ahead before he landed in the tree he looked around a little bit, made a few calls, and then he returned to the nest. Then he stuck his head out of the nest, and he continued calling over and over again for five minutes, maybe a bit more, and as I left, he was still calling. Another owl was responding, but she never came over and eventually, the other call stopped, so I don’t know if this means that Helen is gone and Bob is maintaining the nest and looking for a new mate or if it’s just a coincidence.

It may also be that I’m seeing a different stage in their courtship rituals than I normally see — with the weather being so strange, the timing could all be off. Fingers crossed that Helen is ok and it was just a weird night.

The video I got is pretty crummy — this was already nearly an hour past sunset, and my equipment just isn’t made for that kind of low-light videography.

Helen, or possibly a different female owl, was waiting on the nest “porch”. There’s some doubt whether it actually was Helen, just because her eyebrows look thicker. I’m unsure how much their pattern can change with a molt, but as I get clearer photos I’ll be able to say definitely. She came right out onto the branches in front of the nest, which I don’t usually see Helen do, and then, after sitting there for a little bit, she flew into the ravine and waited. She called once and Bob came and caught them on camera so I redeemed myself for last year’s video (which, as it happens, was almost exactly a year ago!) and then Bob went into the nest. Helen/Maybe Helen stayed for a bit and then presumably went off hunting.

I had the opportunity to see both owls today, but nothing happened.

Bob was calling at first, and Helen (and to my relief, I got a clear look and can confirm that this is still Helen and Bob didn’t find a new mate)on Bob’s third attempt she came out. Bob flew right into the open to one of his preferred branches, he just sat there. Bob often sits on this branch during these early stages of their breeding cycle, usually watching Helen. Helen doesn’t always return the looks. I guess when you find a branch that suits you, you call permanent dibs on it and return to it year after year.

Helen just sat on her porch and then Bob flew off. I thought maybe I would follow Bob, but by the time I got over there, he was gone. It’s possible I just couldn’t see him, or he flew further than I thought. I circled back to see Helen and she was not on the porch either so I don’t know if she flew off or if she just went back in for the night.

No signs of Bob today, but Helen did make an appearance. She flew out from her nest and landed in an area of forest directly across maybe 100 feet from where I normally watch the nest. She called a few times for him before returning to the nest. It’s similar to the behaviour that Bob displayed when I thought maybe something had happened to Helen but instead of sitting on the porch with her head sticking out, Helen seems to have gone straight in or maybe straight past the nest. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get decent photos tonight.

I saw Bob tonight at one of his usual branches. He called several times and I could hear something very faint — definitely Helen. It’s a bit too early for babies right now, obviously unless some real funky climate change stuff happened. He didn’t stay for very long before he took off, and I was able to find him hunting on the other side of the nest. I kind of like to imagine he stopped by just what Helen wanted for dinner. Unfortunately, he was facing away from the camera for his hunt, but it is what it is. He took off and I let him be for the evening.

One again, I wasn’t able to get decent photos.

At first, there was no activity, and then around 8:26 (about 20 minutes after sunset, which seems to be their favourite time to come out this time of year) I think Helen came out, but unfortunately, I was unable to grab a picture. She flew straight out of the nest and I thought I could meet her in the same spot that she seems to have flown to a couple of times now, but today she switched it up and I lost her. By the time I heard her calling it was just too dark to locate her. This is a very different behaviour than I’ve seen in previous years.

I realized that it’s “hatch week” when the owls could be hatching out at any day! Last year they hatched on (based on my best guess) April 19. I stopped by the nest, and unfortunately, no one was home, so I continued on my walk since I had left a little earlier in the day than normal. It turned out to be lucky that I did, since I ran into Sunny and Cher, the other pair I like to watch. At first, Sunny wasn’t very visible but eventually, he moved to a slightly better branch. Then Cher came barreling in, basically crashing into Sunny and forcing them both to go to different spots. They were hanging out very close to one location that I suspected to be their nest, so I went around to the other side where I could see them and snapped a few shots. It was then that I realized that if Cher was calling from one area, its possible that the nest was out that way, so I decided to check it out and I found a couple of possible spots. I’ll have to keep an eye and see if I can confirm.

I arrived in the woods just in time to see Bob fly out to a big main trail. There were a few other photographers today, so we went out together to follow the owls. We found the two of them together but barely got a moment with them before they took off again, and unfortunately, we never saw them again. Although I saw Bob in a decent enough spot, I didn’t get shots I was happy with.

Today was my lucky day when it came to hanging out with Bob. I set out to the nest, and when no one was home decided to continue on to see if Sunny and Cher were around. After getting down the hill and around the bend, I happened to see a light-coloured, owl-shaped flash from the bottom of the ravine where Bob and Helen hang out, and I knew it had to be one of them. There is a very steep trail up the side of the ravine that is mostly used for bikes, but I decided to brave it since I had my boots on, and I didn’t want to risk missing Bob by going back around the hill. When I got up and around to the nest again, there was Bob, waiting on a short stump right on the ground between some ferns. From there, we spent about 2 hours together while I watched him hunting along the trail.

Seeing him hunt so actively and earlier in the day than I’ve been seeing them is a good sign that there may be babies hatched out. The timing lines up with last year as well.

Today both Bob and Helen were out of the nest — something I would normally be excited about, but another photographer already there informed me that a Cooper’s Hawk had just tried to attack the nest.

Bob was sitting at one of his favourite mossy perches, while Helen had tucked into a fir tree a little higher. He was watching her and the nest, while she preened. Eventually, Bob moved on, and Helen came closer to the nest, before finally flying back in.

Today may have been the fastest I have ever found an owl eight minutes and forty seconds from leaving my house. Not bad.

The robins and dark-eyed juncos alerted me to Bob’s presence — he was on the hunt, a good sign for there being babies. I managed to snap one photo of him before I lost him, and continued on to the nest.

Helen was out, and at first I was excited, because if she was out and about it confirms that the eggs must have hatched, but something was very wrong. Helen was soaking wet, which wasn’t unusual given the heavy rain of the past day or two. And she was repeatedly calling to Bob, with no answer from him. She would call several times before moving to a different spot, and repeat the process. If I hadn’t seen Bob myself, I would be even more concerned. I think he was just too far away to hear her calls, but it was very upsetting to see her so distressed.

I hope that this isn’t a sign that something happened to the babies. I worry that her distress is a sign that the Cooper’s Hawk came back and was successful.