{"id":174209,"date":"2026-04-08T04:31:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=174209"},"modified":"2026-04-08T04:31:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:31:35","slug":"its-barred-owl-nesting-season-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/08\/its-barred-owl-nesting-season-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s Barred Owl Nesting Season At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-174203 size-full\" title=\"Spring Barred Owl at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537.jpg\" alt=\"Spring Barred Owl at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3537.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Spring Barred Owl at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 1250, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Two days ago my dear friend Steve Creek called me while I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge to let me know about a Barred Owl that was out in the open. I wasn&#8217;t very far from the owl. In fact, Steve saw me down the road, maybe two city blocks away.<\/p>\n<p>I was able to drive past where Steve was in his pickup, turn around, and drive back so I could photograph the owl in good light from the driver&#8217;s side of my Jeep.<\/p>\n<p>The adult Barred Owl was looking around, possibly for prey to bring to their young, because it is nesting season and the owl&#8217;s nest is nearby.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-174204 size-full\" title=\"Barred Owl adult during nesting season at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg\" alt=\"Barred Owl adult during nesting season at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Barred Owl adult during nesting season at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 1250, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>At that point, I noticed another car coming down the road. So, I moved ahead of Steve&#8217;s pickup, parked, and took a few more photos of the Barred Owl before it flew across the road. The adult owl had a good view of their nest from where they landed.<\/p>\n<p>Usually, at least once a year, I write about nesting ethics. I figured this was a great day to do that because owls can be disturbed at their nests, especially if quite a few people know where the nest is.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Ethics on photographing nesting birds and chicks:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not approach too closely<\/li>\n<li>If the birds show <em>any<\/em> sign of distress, back away<\/li>\n<li>Playback can stress adults, pull them away from the nest, and trigger defensive or territorial behavior. During nesting, that distraction can mean less time guarding eggs or chicks or feeding young<\/li>\n<li>Follow local, state and federal guidelines concerning nesting birds<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t harass the birds to get an action shot<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t stay a long time with nesting birds or chicks, that disrupts their normal behavior<\/li>\n<li>Always remember that your scent may draw predators to the area of nesting birds or birds with chicks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information on the ethics of photographing nesting birds or chicks check out the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aba.org\/about\/ethics.html\" target=\" new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Principles of Birding Ethics<\/span><\/a> published by the American Birding Association.<\/p>\n<p>Stressing owls, or any nesting birds, can reduce nesting success. Be cautious. The photos or videos are <em>never ever<\/em> as important as the subjects health, well being, and comfort.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/barred-owl-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Barred Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two days ago my dear friend Steve Creek called me while I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge to let me know about a Barred Owl that was out in the open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3755,27,945,13973,13974,2162],"tags":[4004,3756,14190,13984,711,947,4450,3967,294,4104,4018,165,3757,4076],"class_list":["post-174209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barred-owls","category-avian","category-nesting-birds","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-wildlife-ethics-wildlife-ethics","tag-adult","tag-barred-owl","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-ethics","tag-nesting-birds","tag-nesting-season","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-perched","tag-sky","tag-spring","tag-strix-varia","tag-trees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-JjP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":127529,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/14\/barred-owl-portraits-in-early-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":174209,"position":0},"title":"Barred Owl Portraits In Early Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I was thrilled to take early morning Barred Owl portraits at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in east central Oklahoma with my friend Steve Creek.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barred Owls&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barred Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barred-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bright morning light adult Barred Owl close up, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/barred-owl-adult-morning-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/barred-owl-adult-morning-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/barred-owl-adult-morning-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3340.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/barred-owl-adult-morning-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3340.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114308,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/12\/barred-owl-from-a-distance\/","url_meta":{"origin":174209,"position":1},"title":"Barred Owl From A Distance","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I visited Sequoyah NWR for the last time before heading back to Utah I became excited when I spotted a Barred Owl perched in lush reeds.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barred Owls&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barred Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barred-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Barred Owl from a distance, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/barred-owl-adult-small-in-frame-mia-mcpherson-4022.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/barred-owl-adult-small-in-frame-mia-mcpherson-4022.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/barred-owl-adult-small-in-frame-mia-mcpherson-4022.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/barred-owl-adult-small-in-frame-mia-mcpherson-4022.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":142762,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/10\/spring-barred-owl-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":174209,"position":2},"title":"Spring Barred Owl At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I was very happy to spot this spring Barred Owl adult yesterday near the end of my visit to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. Very happy indeed.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barred Owls&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barred Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barred-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Barred Owl adult in a leafy tree, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/barred-owl-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-4503.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/barred-owl-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-4503.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/barred-owl-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-4503.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/barred-owl-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-4503.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113755,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/12\/roadside-fledgling-barred-owl-with-a-crawdad\/","url_meta":{"origin":174209,"position":3},"title":"Roadside Fledgling Barred Owl With A Crawdad","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"There is an amazing story behind this photo of a fledgling Barred Owl with a crawdad, photographed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barred Owls&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barred Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barred-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Barred Owl with a crawdad, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-baby-with-crawdad-mia-mcpherson-2274.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-baby-with-crawdad-mia-mcpherson-2274.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-baby-with-crawdad-mia-mcpherson-2274.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-baby-with-crawdad-mia-mcpherson-2274.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113769,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/13\/young-barred-owl-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":174209,"position":4},"title":"Young Barred Owl At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the same young Barred Owl that I shared in my post yesterday which was photographed at Sequoya National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barred Owls&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barred Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barred-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Barred Owl in a road, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-fledgling-at-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcphrson-2031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-fledgling-at-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcphrson-2031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-fledgling-at-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcphrson-2031.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-fledgling-at-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcphrson-2031.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113940,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/24\/adult-barred-owl-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":174209,"position":5},"title":"Adult Barred Owl At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this adult Barred Owl in nice light yesterday morning at Sequoyah NWR in Oklahoma. Huge thanks to Steve Creek for pointing it out to me.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barred Owls&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barred Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barred-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Barred Owl in a willow, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-adult-willow-tree-mia-mcpherson-3781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-adult-willow-tree-mia-mcpherson-3781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-adult-willow-tree-mia-mcpherson-3781.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/barred-owl-adult-willow-tree-mia-mcpherson-3781.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174209"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174215,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174209\/revisions\/174215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}