On May 12, 2024 I was in the Croatan National Forest in Carteret County, North Caroline with my sons Sam and Andrew. We drove down a road deep into a heavily forested swamp and Sam and Andrew were busy looking for plants, probably carnivorous ones. I ventured away from them, following a stream which was difficult to follow because it was in an area with lots of water, lots of fallen and decaying trees and an overwhelming humidity that soaked me despite it feeling relatively cool. It seemed like a spot that would be easy to get lost in. An unfamiliar place for me, a place of some discomfort, with snakes, spiders and other creatures I don't know. A place closer to hell than heaven, sticky, noisy, foreboding. Then I heard the deep and powerful booming call of an owl and that sound propelled me deeper in to find it. I wanted to see and photograph that owl. I finally heard the whirring of wings and this big beautiful barred owl flew at some distance from me back toward the road, but at a different angle than I'd come in. I followed the direction of the flight, but I did not find it - did not hear it again. Wow. That is my most real experience in a serious swamp. It was not particularly comfortable, but seeing that owl was magic. I would go back again just to find and photograph that beautiful bird.
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| Illustration from Birds of the World. |
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| Range from Birds of the World. |
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