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To protect and conserve wildlife and habitats in Canada by engaging people and advocating on behalf of nature.

Photo of the Month - November 2009

Photo of the Month

Your photo could be featured as Nature Canada's Photo of the Month.

1. Tell us your name, where you took the photo, and a brief description or story explaining the photo.

2. Image should be a .jpg file, smaller than 1MB.

3.When you submit a photo, you agree to allow Nature Canada to use your photo on our Web site, enewsletter, ecards and other educational materials. Every effort will be made to credit you as the photographer.

Hello Nature Canada,

This magnificent Barred Owl visited my home daily for about 4 months in 2003/04. It let me get within feet of it to take photographs. I have had visits since but never as often or as reliably as that Fall/Winter.

Marilyn Hubley

Thanks for sharing this fantastic photo with us, Marilyn! The owl looks so comfy that it makes us want to snuggle in for the winter, too.

The Barred Owl ranges across Canada's forests from Atlantic Canada through British Columbia. This large owl greatly resembles the Spotted Owl, with which it likely competes in the rain forests of BC. The Barred Owl is best known for its distinctive “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all” calls.

Our Conservation Ecologist Ted shares this great story:

I recall my first encounter with this species. I was about 18 and camping with my father and brother in Killbear provincial park in Ontario. About 2 am, I was woken from a deep sleep by an incessant hooting sound.

I actually got dressed, crawled out of the tent, and followed the sound through the forest surrounding our campsite towards a bay. Scrambling through the bush, I arrived surely within metres of the culprit. Shining my flashlight up, suddenly there it was, almost right over me.

I watched it, and then started calling back to it, making similar sounds. Within a few minutes, we seemed to have quite a conversation going. Eventually I stopped bugging it, and returned to the tent, very excited. I looked through my bird book and discovered that I had just seen and heard my first Barred Owl.

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