For several years now we have been fortunate to have a family of owls
that visit quite regularly. I am not sure why they like our yard, but
probably because I made a 23 gallon concrete bird bath in the ground and
it is just their size. They are Barred Owls and are pretty big. They
seem to travel around Scottish Hills Subdivision in Cary quite a bit
andprobably frequent the Apex Reservior Park nearby.

This year we have been visited by up to 4 at a time. I think it is an
adult (maybe two) and juveniles. You can tell the difference since the
young ones are still a bit fuzzy and fidgit and move much more than the
adult. The are pretty close to the adult size. They don't visit every
day but quite often.

One has taken up the hobby of people watching. On two mornings where I
was reading the newspaper in the sun room I looked up and it was sitting
on the fence watching me!! I think it visits for water and the fence is
a nice hop and flap away.

Last year a solitary one took a liking to one pine limb and roosted
there quite often. We collected quite a few pellets and my daughter the
biology major took some to dissect. Mice, birds, and Crayfish seems to
be the diet. They don't seem to fear me and I have come within 10 feet
of them and they happily roost and watch on a regular basis from 20-30
feet away and higher up in the trees. One seems to drop by when we are
working in the yard and have the radio tuned to NPR. Wish I had a
better telephoto lens as they never come close when I have a camera
handy.

Yesterday my wife went to the backyard and one was perched on the handle
of the wheelbarrow and another was near by on the top of a 2 inch pipe
about 8 feet off the ground. She stood watching them for 5 minutes
before they flew off.

Anyhoo just thought I would share one of the pleasures of gardening with
you.
--
Wes Dukes (wdukesNOatSPAMpoboxdotcom)