Barred Owl Chick and Mother

A Barred Owl chick nuzzles its mother after leaving its nest.

We were inspired to set up an "owl cam" near our birdbath after seeing a viral video of someone who discovered they had many owls stopping by for refreshment at night.

Lo and behold, we actually have a Barred Owl who stops by once or twice a night for a drink and to dip its feet. Great joy resounded through the household. It was made all the greater when last night a juvenile Barred Owl took a nervous dip and drink.

We knew we'd heard Barred Owl calls ("Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all") and figured there was a nest nearby, but this clinched it.

The bonus was that we haven't been seeing much rat activity. (The "owl cam" has been repurposed from one of our two "rat cams.") During the pandemic lockdowns, when restaurants were closed, we were inundated with huge rat populations that destroyed our tomato plants and so forth. It was crazy.

Now things are much more back to normal, but once the owls began taking evening refreshment in our yard the numbers have dropped to almost nil.

The photo above is from Wikipedia but we like to think it mirrors the reality outside our house at night.