While we there, just for fun, we played a call for barred owls. Soon, we had two come to investigate. These owls are a joy to call up because they are normally very responsive and curious. They are common in probably the eastern two-thirds of the state all year. They are not found in the panhandle or in the far southwest part of the state.

These owls are slightly smaller than a Great-horned Owl and have large rounded heads with dark eyes (instead of the bright yellow eyes we often think of with other owls). They have dark horizontal bars on their upper breasts but vertical streaks on their belly and underparts. Their backs are mostly brown with buff to white spotting.

We watched them watch us for a few minutes before heading back to Spring Creek Pond.