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We saw this little fellow on two separate ocassions in 3 days on the H4-2 between Crocbridge and Lower Sabie.

In Orpen on the September long weekend there was one that called almost all nite and day which made it easy to locate him.
Very rewarding little bird.

Saw this one (a lifer for me and I have looked for him for 50 yrs nearly!!) near Biyamiti Weir last week

Only ever seen one - and it was in the same tree as a Martial eagle. I was about to tick it off as a pearlie, but it looked a bit different. On further scrutiny we saw it was a barred

Snapped this little guy at Biyamiti early August 2007. Only realised afterward how lucky I was to have seen him.

I was taking a stroll towards the bird hide and saw him fly into a young tree close to the fence - I rushed back to fetch my binocs and camera, and when I returned he was still there - and he and I had a good chat before he flew off!

I saw this one on the H5, close to the turn-off from the H4-2.


Photo taken in May 2005

Seen these owlets on (almost) every visit to Biyamiti, in the trees right outside the bungalows.

Hi everyone
I was so excited to see the topic "Guru owl" and after reading all the posts I realized that it was named this because Owl started it....was disappointed because i am owl-mad (nothing personal Owl...)

Anyway, see my lovely picture of a Barred Owl taken in Talamati in April.

Thats a great pic kingfisha! i am still trying to hunt down this bird...i am hoping to get it when we go down to PE soon...There is a subspecies of this bird in the eastern cape

I don't want to discourage you Batmad but you have a far better chance of seeing one in Kruger or Mapungubwe.
They are quite few and far between in the Eastern Cape as I understand it and hardly ever seen. There was quite a nice article about the subject in the African Birds & Birding issue of October 2008 (you'll need to be a subscriber to read the article unfortunately), describing how difficult it was to get sight of one in the area. They searched for months and although hearing them often they could only get one visual in riverine habitat. Seem to have had better luck in the euphorbia-dominated areas.
Keep an eye and ear out though, you might just be extremely lucky.

Thanks for the heads up Johann

I read that article and i agree with you my chances are slim but atleast i aim high

I took the following picture of this Owl close to Nwanetsi. At first I thought this to be a Pearl-spotted Owlet, but later I realized this to be an African Barred Owlet.

Saw this Barred Owlet at the same spot, two days in a row - on the tarr road between Croc Bridge
and Lower SAbie

That is a great set of photos Yolandé.

I need to practice more, get a bigger lens, and also get back to the Kruger as soon as possible...

The Roberts sound byte did its thing once again. This little owlet reacted almost instantaneously on the playing of its call, perching a bit dumbfounded trying to figure out where the initial call came from. It is a stunning experience to get half-decent shots of a lifer. This poser sat for me near Lanner Gorge in the Pafuri consession.


Large view

I have found that vigorous reaction is exacted from a large number of amazingly diverse species by playing the barred owlet’s call. It is the sunbirds especially that flock nearer when the owl’s call is heard, but much larger birds like the grey go-away-birds also show interest. This may be because the barred owlet is a diurnal hunter, sometimes preying on birds up to the size of African hoopoes.

It likes bathing and observations in gardens in the north eastern parts of South Africa have often been made at bird baths.