Driving down 96 into town today, there was a suspiciously rusty-colored snowball on the shoulder. I pulled over and walked back, and sure enough, there was a red morph Eastern Screech-Owl. It was alive but looking poorly.
By the time I got my coat off to get my sweater off so I had something to confine it in on the way to the vet, it had started opening its eyes and looking rather horrified with its predicament. When I bent down to it, it flew up in that hover-y silent way, though a bit clumsily, and made it over traffic into some nearby trees. It was likely still addled-- it made an indecisive landing. I can't help but think it was a very hungry or even starving bird, with all this snow to contend with, and now it will have to try to hunt with a concussion and/or whatever other injuries it might have sustained. It makes me want to hang mice on a tree in our yard instead of Easter eggs. Caroline Manring West Hill, Ithaca -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
