You never know what you will see when you go boating on the Chipola River.  It’s a beautiful winding river and you never know what’s around the next bend.

A Barred Owl sitting on a limb out over the river was the highlight of my day. With camera ready, I knew I was going to get a shot of a lifetime. It can get a little tricky taking a photo with a long lens in a moving boat.  The current was swift so we were unable to cut the motor off.  It was a challenge but one that I enjoyed.  As we are circling around under the owl he spooked and I thought he was gone but he just flew to a higher limb farther up river.  OH!  What fun!

The Barred Owl has a call that sounds like “Who cooks for you?  Who Cooks for you-all?”  When they start talking I have to stop and listen, it is one of my favorite sounds.

They live in large, mature forest of both deciduous trees and evergreens often near a body of water, since one of their foods is fish and crayfish.  Barred Owls also eat small animals and especially rodents.   These beautiful birds nest in tree cavities and mate for life raising one brood each year.

The oldest Barred Owl on record was at least 24 years old.