Sometimes a person just misses the obvious! In the past three days two bird species have let me know that I need to pay closer attention to habitat and my local environment. My first example involves a family of Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers. This couple is drilling a nest hole within a few feet of the end of my driveway. Okay, cool, but it is obvious that the same species of birds used the exact same tree for nesting last year. Thus, the question, how could I have not heard all the drilling during construction, and then demands of the young woodpeckers?

Now we move on to the Barred Owl family featured in today’s post. In spite of the heavy fog and mist I went birding this morning. For years I have been trying to find a Barred Owl nest in the Duluth area (tree cavity or broken snag top). I think this morning I finally figured out a great spot for further research. The clue was spotting a Barred Owl hunting three hours after sunrise which screams owlets near by. When the owl finally disappeared into a grove of trees after 20 minutes, I realized it was in perfect habitat. While, I had searched very near this location, I had previously dismissed the spot “the owl chose”. Now I need to redouble my efforts before the leaves pop out.

Barred Owl on its Late Morning Hunt