A 24 Hour House Guest

Normark

Normark

Joined
Nov 7, 1999
Messages
6,651
Hey Guys…

A few weeks ago we were coming home at night after a fun night out Grocery shopping, when Wham, I thought the truck was hit by a snowball…

My wife turned around and scanned the field for any kids,, nothing…
Then I see a small bird flapping around on the ground..
Got out and seen it was a small owl, so I covered it with my coat,bundled it up and brought it home…

With no real place to keep it for the night, I kicked the budgie out of his cage and set the owl on it’s perch…
The owl a Northern Saw Whet was still a little stunned, but held on and was able to keep it’s balance on the perch…

owl1.jpg


After a few hours it was pretty much back to normal, but decided to keep it for 24 hours to be sure..
In the morning I contacted a bird expert at the Canadian Bird Study as I wasn’t completely sure of the type of owl it was.. I suspected it to be a Saw Whet,,but wanted to know exactly…So confirmed my thoughts…

sawwhet.jpg


wyattowl.jpg


wyattskyowl.jpg


In the morning the owl was in great shape,, alert, so me being me,, I wanted to hold it..
I took the owl out of the cage, and it sat on my gloved hand for several minutes..
The talons on these birds are similar to a cars claw, although round, not flat like a cats.. They are Extremely pointy and sharp…

The owl was very calm,, it allowed me do a complete examination on it’s wings, with little fuss. It also let me pet it and touch it’s beak, never once showing even the slightest bit of hostility,, other than clicking it’s beak a few times..

Before I released the owl I wanted to make sure it could fly..
After several flights around the house (Silently I Might Add) I was satisfied the owl was well enough to be released..

For the better part of the afternoon it sat on my shoulder, as I typed away at the computer, never once trying to get away.. I’d like to think it had a sense that I wasn’t a threat to it.. A Couple of times as it brushed up against the side of my head I was a little worried about my ear lobes, however that never happened.. The Scar would have been a cool conversation starter… LOL

At one point in an earlier examination I thought it’s wing may have been broke.. If so I would have kept it as a pet… That would have been cool, however I’m pleased he left on his own…

We waited til just before night for the release.. I wan’t enough light to be able to do a rescue it it didn’t make it into the trees… It however flew from my hand within a few seconds and flew into a 60 foot Blue Spruce, and that was that…

The kids had a good time watching and learning about owls, I have a new species to add to my rescued animal list and the owl is hopefully flying north to it’s summer home..

Thanks for your time..

Ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Hey Guys..

On a Sidenote...

You'll notice in all of the pictures, the birds eyes are closed or just about closed..
They are Hardcore sensitive to light from the flash of the camera. Their pupils dilate incredibly quickly.

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Cool! Great to see you around again! And good of you to take it in. Those are some neat pictures too, not many people get to handle an owl!

[ps- Are you still taking orders for sheaths? I had sent an email and wasn't sure if it reached you.]
 
Glad the owl turned out to be ok! I wouldn't have thought he would have been so calm, nice story!!
 
awesome....I love owls....Saw whets in particular are 1 of the owl species that frequent NYC in the winter I spotted on in Central Park once....I've never been that close, That's just fantastic, and a great way to expose your children to nature... Cheers.
 
Awesome, there's an owl that lives near my lakefront property in NS, they are such cool birds. I love hearing them hooting at night.

I just remembered a Poem I really enjoyed a while back, There was a boy, by William Wordsworth.

THERE was a Boy; ye knew him well, ye cliffs
And islands of Winander!--many a time,
At evening, when the earliest stars began
To move along the edges of the hills,
Rising or setting, would he stand alone,
Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake;
And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands
Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth
Uplifted, he, as through an instrument,
Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls,
That they might answer him.--And they would shout
Across the watery vale, and shout again,
Responsive to his call,--with quivering peals,
And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud
Redoubled and redoubled; concourse wild
Of jocund din! And, when there came a pause
Of silence such as baffled his best skill:
Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung
Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprise
Has carried far into his heart the voice
Of mountain-torrents; or the visible scene
Would enter unawares into his mind
With all its solemn imagery, its rocks,
Its woods, and that uncertain heaven received
Into the bosom of the steady lake.
 
Awesome!

Glad you were there to help it out.

They really are amazing creatures. Some of us used to go out "owl calling" when I was in school. (Still others went out "Al-coholing") It is difficult to describe just how impressive that silent swoop out of nowhere is.

I've held a barred owl from a wildlife rehab outfit. You just can't reconcile how light they are with how strong their grip is.

It's great that you could let it go, but if you had kept it, would there have been regulatory issues? 'Round these parts, you have to have a falconry license to keep any bird of prey. My little brother was looking into it for awhile, but it is a (rightfully) difficult pursuit to take up.

BTW- Could you share your "rescued species" list? :)
 
Very neato experience. I love owls.
 
Great pics and story!

The comment about silent flight brings back an great memory of when I was a small boy. I was out messing around in a old brick grain silo that no longer had a top (probably a dangerous place to be. I remember there being pigeons in there roosting and using it as a rookery. It was dusk and getting dark and an owl came in and started killing pigeons right an left. Oddest thing I'd ever seen; it was like a silent assassin. That owl cleaned their clocks! It was almost seemed to be raining pigeons in there (to a small boy anyway), though it was probably more like 2-3 pigeons; everything was exaggerated by all the feathers flying around! :D
 
That is just to cool. I guess that might be a rare occasion that you get the chance to do that. Cool pics and a really neat story.
 
There's an old wives tale that you shouldn't tap your maple trees until you hear the Saw Whets singing. I used to do that with my small sugarbush for fun.
 
That is a great story and photos. I'm sure the kids will remember that owl forever.

One of my most powerful memories as a kid hapened while hunting squirrels. I had my back to a huge oak and heard a squirrel moving around back behind me in the trees. I slowly stood up to edge around the tree and take a shot. As I got to where I could see the squirrel a great horned owl swooped in and attacked it. It was quite a battle, the squirrel got away on the first pass and the owl had to have another go at it. Suddenly he got ahold of his prey and swooped off silently through the trees with the tail fluttering in the wind. Better him than me.

Once at the mountain house it was sleeting something fierce and we were all at home by the fire. A duck suddenly landed on the deck and waddled up to the sliding glass door (we had it open a crack to let some heat out). My dad opened the door and this poor, half-frozen mallard waddled in, walked right over to the fire and hopped up on the hearth. He stayed there for about an hour literally melting a puddle underneath him, hissing at anyone who came near.

After a while he waddled back to the door and my dad let him out again. Some ducks flew up the valley and he took off to join them. Too odd for words. He just stopped in to get warm again. Mac
 
That is very cool indeed. Even cooler that he was docile enough to hang out with you guys, and let you prod and poke him. Thanks for taking the pics, that is Awesome.
 
Nice save Normark! Six or seven years ago I had a very simular but not nearly as intimate an experience with a saw whet owl, only it was hit by the car in front of me. It was dark and I just saw the form of a bird arc off the roof of the vehicle. I thought it was a grouse and turned around in the hopes of finding supper laying in the road. Turned out to be a little owl, still alive but stunned, with a dead mouse laying next to it. I picked the owl up in my watch cap and drove to the nearest store (I was in a rural area), called the game warden for the area, and arranged to meet him with the owl closer to town about thirty miles up the road. I turned it over to him to bring to a bird rehab/sanctuary to be checked out. He told me that the clicking of the bill is part of their threat display. He also told me he once had an injured great horned owl in his vehicle that he was taking to the same place. While he was driving, the owl got loose and muckled onto his leg with it's talons. He said it was all he could do to stop the vehicle safely and get the thing off his leg. Another warden told me about a pretty humorous incident that he was involved in. I have to preface this by noting that there are a lot of city people buying summer vacation properties in my area, many of them are pretty witless. He got a call one night from a woman who said she had hit and injured a hawk with her car, and that she had stopped and picked it up and taken it home. She had it confined to a box and wanted him to come get it. He told her he'd be by the next morning. When he arrived he discovered that what she had was in fact a ruffed grouse. He examined it, determined that it was uninjured and told her he would take it outside and release it. The warden carrying the grouse, the lady, and her husband all went out into the yard, and the warden gently flung the bird upwards, whereupon it took wing and flew right into the trunk of a tree, which killed it instantly. The city folks weren't real impressed.
 
Great story. We had the same type of visitor years ago...but he flew down our chimney.
 
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