I was driving up my street after dark last night, about three driveways from my own, when a young rabbit tore across the road close in front of my car, followed by an enormous bird. The rabbit continued to the lawn across the street on the left, but the bird made a tight turn to the right a few inches in front of my windshield, to avoid getting hit.
It was huge! Looked light gray in the headlights. Huge talons stretched out. I didn't see the body or head, it was all so quick, but the wing span had to be at least four feet. It was as wide as my car!
Owl.
I guess I saved the baby rabbit, but I wonder if some owlets went hungry last night.
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Later:
A little research. It could have been a Great Horned Owl, whose wingspan can exceed 5 feet. But since my impression was a blur of gray, I'm more inclined to think Great Grey Owl, also 5 feet wingspan, although this area is slightly outside the Grey's usual range. The Snowy Owl is a little too white for what I saw. I know we have Barn Owls around here, but this bird was much larger than the Barn Owl.
So, my conclusion, Great Grey. Blame global warming for the range spread. (Yeah, I know that's backward, but everything else is blamed on global warming, so why not....)
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1 comment:
At my old house, we lived right next to a pretty large wooded area, and our backyard led out to another large wooded area, almost big enough to be called a forest. There were several different species of large birds, inculding owls.... One time an Owl nested in my swingset/ slide/ fort thing, it was pretty large and right on the bring of the encroaching woods... If i was careful, i could get in close enough to see the baby owls... They were cute!
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