The ramp to the 401 east happened to be closed when I got off work. Normally I either go up the road a bit, do a u-turn and catch it on the south bound side, or make my way over to the 410 and get on the highway there. Last night I decided to take the long way home, driving the back roads for something different.
I know some roads to drive where I could possibly run into an Owl (Snowy). It's been quiet this winter for them overall but I still very randomly pass the occasional one.
So I am driving down one of the dark roads. One eye on the road. One eye looking for white blobs on top of lamp posts, fences, etc. Suddenly a dark shadow flies right in front of the car. I hit the brakes and narrowly missed something. Now what would be flying around at 10:30 at night? An Owl, right? Only this was smaller than a Snowy and it was not white. Hmmmm.
I pull the car over and scan the area. The Owl appears on a lamp post near me. Holy s**t, it's a Long-eared Owl! The Owl leaves that post and once again flies across the road, diving into the field. It comes back up and lands on some sort of metal piping system sticking out of the ground. I drive the car to a better spot for parking, which happens to be about 20 ft from where the Owl was. The bird did not flush. I sit for a minute, just watching it. Then I step out of the car for a better view with my own eyes, and not through a dirty windshield. NOTE: I remained on the pavement. The Owl observed me momentarily and then went back to scanning the field. I watched it fly out and dive down three more times. I was in awe. I wished I had my camera with me. This was epic!
I got back into the car after trying to get a capture with my cell phone. This here is the best I could get.
As I continued home, I did pass a Snowy Owl. A big beautiful near all white specimen who also took flight into the nearby field. Traffic was busy in this stretch so I didn't pull over for another craptastic capture.
Being involved with wildlife rescue centres and transporting animals, I hear stories of Owls that clip cars when hunting road side. I could never imagine experiencing that. The heartbreak in the moment. I had my own close call here and with a much better ending. I did wish that Owl to be safe and stay away from the road as I drove away.
Lots of snowy sightings up my way. All kinds of owls in fact. It has been a good season.
ReplyDeleteThat could have been heartbreaking. I'm so glad you missed hitting the owl - I guess he was focused on something he saw in the field.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was really cool. Sweet shitty photo too Rob! I would have believed this story even without a picture because you don't strike me as a bullshitter.
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