My first owl painting happened after an encounter with a Barred Owl in the alders at the back of the pasture. The owl stuck around while I went to get my camera, to my surprise.
The encounter hasn’t been repeated, but I know Barred Owls are still around, as they are quite vocal, particularly in the lead-up to nesting season.
They are not the only owl that is active in daylight. Short-eared owls, winter residents of the delta grassland, are most commonly seen at dusk, when their favorite prey, voles, are foraging.
Snowy Owls follow a similar pattern. Burrowing Owls, the tiny residents of Eastern Washington Grasslands, are active in daylight, and their territoriality means standing guard near their underground homes, checking out all who pass. Even more nocturnal types hunt during the day when necessary, particularly when they have nestlings, who are hungry round the clock. With the multitude of nest cams available for round the clock viewing, we are able to see many more intimate details of their lives.
That “judgy” look that most owls have in photographs is a projection – their eyes do not rotate in their sockets like ours, and their sensitive hearing relies on their facial disk to act like a radar, so they turn their heads and stare directly at a noise source. That doesn’t mean they are not judging us, of course!
