March 4 Who Cooks for You?

I went for a long adventure this morning to the Lakeshore Preserve, hoping to see some new bird species or more life in general. There was a punishing northwest wind which kept most of the peninsula quiet, but I did see some bird action near the Biocore Prairie. I had seen 8 species of birds and was feeling frozen when I decided to start heading home. Just when I left the trail for the road, I heard two calls that sound like "Who Cooks For You?" This is the hooting of barred owls (Strix varia) who typically communicate at dusk, but right now are sending out a few calls during the day, maybe because they are working hard to find a mate and a place to soon incubate eggs. Or possibly, this owl was hooting in its sleep. When I crept up for a picture it was clearly just napping in the sun, hunkered next to this sheltered tree to get out of the wind. If you want to hear owls in the woods, now is a good time to go and listen.