Just who is the barred owl, and what was he doing out and about in the middle of the day? Time to consult owlpages.com.
First things first. He's a killer, unlike the cosmetically-challenged turkey vulture of my last post. Mainly he eats voles, shrews, and mice, but in a pinch he will also eat moles, rats, squirrels, rabbits, lizards, salamanders, frogs, beetles, grasshoppers - in other words, anything he can sink those enormous claws into. He (or possibly she - the two sexes look similiar) begins nesting in late February, and that's probably why we spotted him - owls are out and about in daylight primarily during nesting season. His call, recorded here, supposedly sounds like "Who cooks for you, who cooks for all?" He did not favor us with a performance.
Score another one for Nature.