I wasn’t sure this was a Barred Owl at first as the color was so dark. Looking at the images closer up it was clear it was and that he was soaking wet.
A few crows were harassing him, and he Swooped to another tree.
He didn’t go far, picking another spot in the morning sun to help dry off.
Ted and I took a stupendous boat tour at Okefenokee Swamp a few days ago.
This Red-shouldered Hawk was the first bird of the day, shortly after sun rise.
He looks a little tattered, but he had no trouble with his flight skills.
The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre, peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness.
There is not much doubt they always hear the human coming. I was walking in crunchy leaves and didn’t even try to be stealthy.
I’m reasonably sure that these two images are of the same Barred Owl. I first spotted him in a little glen where I have previously seen a pair. It was late afternoon and as the sun got lower the light filtered through a gap in the trees behind me.
After a bit the Owl flew towards a small pond and I continued my walk. As I suspected the Owl didn’t go far, or his mate was here the whole time. The trees were much denser and it was darker here, but still a nice view of a beautiful bird.
He started out in the classic Bald Eagle pose.
Then worked on some personal grooming.
He made me hopeful I might see a flight.
Finally he settled in facing the opposite direction from when I first spotted him.
It was late afternoon on a gloomy day when I spotted a Bald Eagle perched above the pond, facing away from the water.
The mate appeared, quietly, while I wasn’t looking.
A Cooper’s Hawk just passing by at the end of the day.
A Red-shouldered Hawk watched the sun come up into a cloudless sky on a recent crisp morning.
Red-shouldered Hawks around Magnolia Plantation and Gardens are pretty tolerant of people passing by.
With human foot traffic mostly limited to paths due to the various ponds and swamps the raptors have a lot of space that is just theirs.
This one took off over a swamp with a “I’m traveling” flap of his wings, not “I’m going for prey” dive giving me a nice level view.
The best thing about winter is leaf-less limbs, that often can be in the image without obscuring a passing bird.
