Who cooks for you?

So, for the past couple of weeks, John and I have intermittently heard an interesting owl-y noise in the woods surrounding our house.

I am quite excited to learn that this:


























is our new neighbor. He's a Barred Owl (strix varia)!!! You can hear a sample of his call here, go to the Barred Owl (I tried linking to the wav file directly but it just bounces you to the list).

For numerous reasons, this has me incredibly psyched. Suffice it to say - I'm very happy to hear him.