Hi all As the snow flew today, I found myself looking at the birds in the yard wondering if anything different may show up. Nope, as the morning disappeared, all I had seen was the usual crowd: Lesser Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, Spotted Towhees and those pesky introduced birds: House Sparrows and Eurasian Collared Doves!
Then, all of a sudden, a speeding brown "ball" came rocketing towards the house, low over the snow, straight at the bird feeders, only to veer and crash into a 'never cleaned' window and collapse into the snow underneath. I was aghast to realise that it was a first for the yard, a Northern Pygmy Owl, now lying helpless and seeming lifeless in the snow. Lest a Magpie or anything else took advantage, I picked it up, having realised that it was still alive, and placed it on its belly in a clear plastic box covered with a towel, in a darkened room. I carefully lifted the towel some 40 minutes later - it was now standing up and staring at me! I left it alone for another hour or more, until I decided to examine it more closely. It seemed in fine shape, so I scared off the Cooper's Hawk that was sitting watching the Juncos, waiting for the Eurasian Collared Doves to return after its last failed dash to grab one.. Denise took a couple of pics as I examined the owl, before I released it, whereupon it flew strongly into the Choke Cherry and the Juncos scattered. After just a few minutes it moved trees, and then after a few minutes more it headed off into the falling snow. Good luck buddy - it's destined to be -10F tonight, and I hope you sustained no serious internal injuries from our 'never-cleaned' glass. Only our third owl species for the yard, the previous being several Great Horneds, and a single Saw-whet that spent a winter's day in the spruce by the back door, next to the bird table.. Interesting day! Best wishes Dick Filby Carbondale, Garfield County -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/VI1PR0802MB25606A10C95E813D0B30F0F4B2630%40VI1PR0802MB2560.eurprd08.prod.outlook.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
