{"id":176361,"date":"2026-05-27T07:29:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=176361"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:34:01","slug":"barred-owl-chicks-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/05\/27\/barred-owl-chicks-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Barred Owl Chicks At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-176358 size-full\" title=\"Barred Owl chicks waiting to be fed at Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150.jpg\" alt=\"Barred Owl chicks waiting to be fed at Miner's Cove, 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\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Barred Owl chicks waiting to be fed at Miner&#8217;s Cove \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1\/60, ISO 6400, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This past Sunday I was tickled to find two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Barred_Owl\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Barred Owl<\/span><\/a> chicks on a willow branch at Miner&#8217;s Cove waiting to be fed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<p>I arrived early and ate my breakfast as I watched the sunrise. Bird song starts at Miner&#8217;s Cove before dawn, and it was peaceful. There wasn&#8217;t enough light yet to photograph or video them, but I could already see the owl chicks. There were other birds singing and moving around too.<\/p>\n<p>When I had enough light, I started to video the owls, but a few of those owl videos were ruined by the photographer who pulled up behind me in their vehicle. The sounds of that person getting out of their vehicle, setting up their tripod, and walking around on the gravel were easily picked up by my external microphone.<\/p>\n<p>I took a few photos and moved my vehicle forward to have a better view of the Barred Owl chicks. The person behind me walked up behind my vehicle. When I moved my vehicle again, they followed on foot. That happened a total of three times.<\/p>\n<p>At any given point, that photographer on foot could have scared away the owl chicks, which were waiting to be fed, or kept the adults from flying in to feed them.<\/p>\n<p>Their behavior and poor field etiquette could have ruined my opportunity with the young owls that morning, or their own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube fusion-aligncenter\" style=\"--awb-max-width:1000px;--awb-max-height:563px;--awb-width:100%;--awb-margin-bottom:24px;\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT1M5S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Barred Owl chicks waiting to be fed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"I was delighted to video these two Barred Owl chicks waiting to be fed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-05-27T05:30:15-06:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/i3.ytimg.com\/vi\/ezRILfMLNVw\/hqdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ezRILfMLNVw\" \/><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:56.3%;\" ><iframe class=\"lazyload\" title=\"Barred Owl chicks waiting to be fed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271000%27%20height%3D%27563%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201000%20563%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271000%27%20height%3D%27563%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ezRILfMLNVw?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0&amp;rel=0\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Watch on <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ezRILfMLNVw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">YouTube<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At about 49 seconds into the video, the owl chick in the front became very aware of that person on foot. That young owl turned their head and stared.<\/p>\n<p>I removed several seconds at the end of the video because my external mic picked up the sound of the other photographer walking on the gravel road.<\/p>\n<p>Birds and animals at the refuge are usually less skittish when we photograph from our vehicles. If I pull up on someone in their vehicle using it as a mobile blind in the field, I don&#8217;t bail out of my vehicle to get photos.<\/p>\n<p>Why don&#8217;t I?<\/p>\n<p>Because that isn&#8217;t good field etiquette or ethics.<\/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>This past Sunday I was tickled to find two Barred Owl chicks on a willow branch at Miner&#8217;s Cove waiting to be fed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":176358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3755,27,1962,13973,13974,5362,2162],"tags":[3756,2663,13984,4134,4068,711,4508,4141,4067,4071,14047,3967,294,153,13976,165,3757,4427,6107,4193],"class_list":["post-176361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barred-owls","category-avian","category-etiquette-wildlife-ethics","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-video","category-wildlife-ethics-wildlife-ethics","tag-barred-owl","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bottomlands","tag-chick","tag-chicks","tag-ethics","tag-etiquette","tag-fledgling","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-miners-cove","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-raptors","tag-slough","tag-spring","tag-strix-varia","tag-tree","tag-willow","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/barred-owl-chicks-willow-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9150.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-JSx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":175584,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/05\/01\/barred-owl-looking-for-crawdads-at-miners-cove\/","url_meta":{"origin":176361,"position":0},"title":"Barred Owl Looking For Crawdads At Miners Cove","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week I videoed an adult Barred Owl who was perched in an old willow at Miner's Cove 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":"Adult Barred Owl at Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-tree-mia-mcpherson-6057.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-tree-mia-mcpherson-6057.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-tree-mia-mcpherson-6057.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-tree-mia-mcpherson-6057.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174209,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/08\/its-barred-owl-nesting-season-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":176361,"position":1},"title":"It&#8217;s Barred Owl Nesting Season At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Barred Owl adult during nesting season at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barred-owl-adult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-3544.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":176344,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/05\/25\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-preening-at-miners-cove\/","url_meta":{"origin":176361,"position":2},"title":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron Preening At Miner&#8217;s Cove","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday there was a break in the weather, so I drove to Miner's Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge and found this preening Yellow-crowned Night Heron.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffed up Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9757.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9757.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":130213,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/05\/young-barred-owl-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":176361,"position":3},"title":"Young Barred Owl Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I was especially thrilled to photograph young Barred Owls yesterday at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. There were two of them hanging out in some willows.","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 perched in a willow tree, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/barred-owl-young-willow-mia-mcpherson-8908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/barred-owl-young-willow-mia-mcpherson-8908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/barred-owl-young-willow-mia-mcpherson-8908.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/barred-owl-young-willow-mia-mcpherson-8908.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":176361,"position":4},"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":[]},{"id":175995,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/05\/20\/great-blue-heron-in-my-viewfinder-at-miners-cove\/","url_meta":{"origin":176361,"position":5},"title":"Great Blue Heron In My Viewfinder At Miner&#8217;s Cove","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Cloudy and stormy weather has kept me from being in the field, so I thought I'd share this Great Blue Heron I had in my viewfinder last month at Miner's Cove.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Great Blue Heron lifting off from Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6505.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6505.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6505.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6505.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\/176361","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=176361"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176377,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176361\/revisions\/176377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}