The York Land Trust > Owl Sightings

barred owl in York

"Just wanted to share this photo of a barred owl that landed on our deck yesterday (2/19) in the late afternoon. He/she is beautiful! We’ve seen this owl or another barred owl in our woods and field but never this close up. My 5 and 2 year old got to see this owl and were amazed, as was I. We had just recently seen the article in the York Independent about owls in the area."

- A. Forbes

Owl on Wire

Greetings. I sighted this barred owl perched on a power line over Pond Rd. in So. Berwick during that wet snow day last Saturday (3/1/08).

- P. Derby

Owl Sightings
In celebration of the Year of the Owl, we welcome reports of local owl sightings. This is a big year for owls, with the barred owl population increasing due to successful breeding last season and an influx of more Northern owls migrating down into Southern Maine for the harsh winter. If you've had an owl close encounter, email the York Land Trust and we'll post your story and any photos you have recording the sighting.

barred owl in tree

"Spotted this guy sitting in the crotch of one of our honeysuckle trees this afternoon (2/8); he was right above our suet feeder, and just a few feet away from the sunflower seed feeder. He seemed asleep, but opened his eyes to little slits when I opened the window over the kitchen sink, about fifteen feet away from him. The chickadees kept feeding, cautiously, right near him; my guess is he was lurking, waiting for incautious hungry squirrels.

He stayed about a half hour, then roused himself and took off when I opened the window a little too far for his comfort... "

- W. Wieting

Peeping owl

We live in York and our property abuts York Land Trust conservation land. A few weeks ago (Feb. 08) we spotted an owl sitting on a tree branch on the side of our yard. We took this picture through a window and we zoomed in on it so, unfortunately, the clarity is not as crisp as we would have liked. The owl actually left for a time and later returned. It was fun to watch our little visitor even if only for a short time.

- J. and C. Gavin

For more information on owls, link to the Year of the Owl web page here.

For other owl sighting reports, visit the Maine Bird Alert website.

Barred Owl in Tree

We have a Barred Owl in North Berwick (3/8). We see him at different times during the day. Most commonly around 3 pm but sometimes early in the morning he is visible as well. Often he is sunning himself and can be found on one of 5 different trees next to our house. You have to look closely for him because he blends in well with his surroundings. He is always hunting! One minute he will be looking at us and the next his head turns around, what looks to be 360 degrees and it looks like he is ready to pounce. He does not seem to mind us going about our daily activities and sometimes it seems that he wants us to know he is there because he will flutter his wings. We have never heard his hoot so it was nice to listen to what it sounds like on this website. I think he posed for this picture!

- J. Williams