One of the great things about dragonflying is that it gets you out into some wonderful natural habitats. A couple weeks ago Betsy and I were scouting possible locations for our upcoming dragonfly field trip. We were tramping around in the woods of Smiley's Bottom (bottom land, that is) when we turned a corner and encountered a Barred Owl sitting quietly in a tree just ahead. We took a few pictures and then backtracked to leave the owl in peace. Here's the owl we encountered:
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| A Barred Owl sitting in the woods of Smiley's Bottom. |
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| The owl looked at me from time to time, but generally seemed unconcerned. |
In past years we've seen a Barred Owl fly by as we watched dragonflies at Smiley's Bottom. This was the first time, however, that we had a good extended view. Later the same day we were enjoying listening to Common Yellowthroats when we heard a strange piping sound. We suspected a Virginia Rail, and sure enough we soon saw it creeping about in the vegetation along a ditch. It's a narrow bird – to help it slip between stems of plants. No surprise, then, that rails inspired the expression "thin as a rail."
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