It would seem we don’t get much sleep around here. Fireworks. Sirens of twenty different fire companies. An owl.

We haven’t had any owls around since we moved to New Jersey. We always wondered why we never heard one given all the woods that surround our house.

We can’t say that anymore. We’ve heard this owl a couple of times over the past month. The hoo-hoo-hooing of some kind of owl we were not familiar with. It’s always around the same time in the wee hours of the morning, right around 4:00 to 4:30 a.m. Sometimes it sounds like it’s right outside our window, and since we have huge trees in the front yard, it probably is!

Last night the owl outdid itself. When it first woke me it was pretty close, then it settled in further away in the woods and kept hoo-hooing for a good fifteen minutes. Then another one joined in that was very close and it was a very strange noise. Even Rick woke up for that one!

This morning I looked it up and given I only had three choices of owl species to choose from it wasn’t hard to figure it out. Our choices where we live are Great Horned (which we knew it was not by the voice), Barred, and Eastern Screech Owl. No screeching, so I got out my bird song CD and played the voice of the Barred Owl. Bingo!

Here is our culprit, the Barred Owl. The link kindly provides sound!

I don’t mind being woken by Mr. Barred. It’s kind of nice to have an owl around.

It really does make some strange noises!  It’s a beautiful bird though and would be wonderful to see it.  You’ll have to keep a look out for it at dusk.

C, it was downright weird! It sounded just like the one on the provided link. I hope I get to see him too some day. I hope he/she sticks around.

I love owls! (hope you see him/her.) I especially liked the link to the video w/sound. Sookie got really spooked when she heard it, wouldn’t stop barking and looking for the owner of the strange noise, so I had to cut it short. We actually heard one near our house, but it’s been a few years. Also, I used to hear them up at Mom’s.

Bigsis, yes the sound is very strange but when the owl was doing its thing this a.m. no one noticed, but when I played it back from the then link they all were barking and looking out windows. Stupid dogs!

I’ve never heard a Barred Owl before. Plenty of Great Horneds tho ...

Owls are the coolest birds. They’e absolutely silent in flight—a little freaky, actually. They do make strange noises! I once saw a pair hooting to each other in a tree right outside my bedroom window in the middle of the night—it was an incredible experience.