About 5 AM, I was awakened by the distinctive hooting of a barred owl outside our condo on Longboat Key, Florida. It was my first encounter with this species on the island since we started visiting, twenty years ago.
While barred owls are common in wooded swamps and wetlands (especially in the South), one does not generally associate them with mangroves and palm trees; other than the invasive Australian pines, trees on Longboat Key are mostly limited to those planted in yards and condo developments. Of course, there are mice, birds and lizards to prey on and barred owls have been known to eat crabs as well.
Perhaps this morning's encounter would not be considered unusual by local birders but it was a pleasant surprise for me. After all, we humans each have our own definition of "rare" events, based almost exclusively on our personal experience.
