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Hi all,
On Tuesday night, at about 12:30 AM (actually Wednesday
morning) on my way home, as I was driving south on 1500 West in Nibley, I
saw a dead bird in the street just behind the water processing plant (or
whatever that is). I didn't think much of it until I got to the stop sign
just north of the dairy. I began to think, "Was this my Barn Owl?"
So, I went back to look at it. I determined that is was indeed an owl, but
it appeared to have no head. Based on its size and coloring, I called it a
Barn Owl, albeit a headless one.
Yesterday, I was on my way to Logan, so I stopped
again to check out the owl. He was still where I left him. I had
moved him out of the road and onto the snowbank the night before. When I
flipped him over with my foot, a small rodent crawled out from under his
carcass, and I noticed that he did indeed have a head. He had yellow eyes,
a black beak and a white "x" on his face. Based on all these marks, I
concluded that my dead owl was a Short-eared Owl.
Knowing that my Barn Owl was still alive made me feel
better, but I was still sad over the loss of this beautiful
Short-eared.
Good birding,
Richard
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