West Seattle wildlife: Another owl encounter

After reading CS‘s Tuesday report of a too-close encounter with an owl along Bonair in North Admiral earlier this week, Cory e-mailed to share this:

Mine happened last Wednesday morning at 4:45 am on California Ave as it heads around Hamilton Viewpoint and down to the beach. He took two passes….one skimmed the top of my head, and the next, 20 seconds later, he was clawing at my scalp. Needless to say, a loud scream and an arm wave scared him off. The spooky part of the whole incident was the fact that he/she was totally silent…….small animals don’t stand a chance!!

I have seen a large owl in the trees on Bonair, and can only imagine this is the same one that swooped on the other jogger and me.

The comments on our previous story have yielded some interesting comments and context since the original report – including this one about a possible reason, and this one with a “coexisting with owls” link!

7 Replies to "West Seattle wildlife: Another owl encounter"

  • WS Mom December 10, 2010 (10:14 pm)

    Is it bad that this post makes me think of Prince’s song, ” When Doves Cry”?

  • dm December 10, 2010 (10:22 pm)

    The Ornithologist’s comment gave me pause. It could be stripes on a wooly cap, resembling a skunk. But like many of us folk of Irish decent: we have distinct white stripes when we pull our hair back in a pony tail. Oh great.

  • Jennifer December 10, 2010 (10:54 pm)

    @DM
    Apologies if I am being dense, but my Grandfather was Irish … so I am genuinely curious what you are referring to when u talk about the white stripe.

  • dm December 10, 2010 (11:30 pm)

    Jennifer, you’re not dense. There are hair color variations connected with being Irish, but one of them is dark hair with distinct white (GRAY) streaks on either side of the head: most noticeable if you are of a certain age, have long hair, and you pull it back in a ponytail. I’m sure I look like a skunk from above when I’m waddling along.

  • umm December 10, 2010 (11:44 pm)

    A stripe of white in their hair…

  • John M. December 11, 2010 (5:24 am)

    Yeah, owl wing beats are completely silent. I read once, it’s something to do with the structure of their feathers. I think it’s pretty cool…but definitely bad news for little critters…or unsuspecting people!

  • islewrite December 11, 2010 (6:02 pm)

    I immediately thought of Richie Petrie and his giant woodpecker. Available in full on Hulu:

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/30471/the-dick-van-dyke-show-a-bird-in-the-head-hurts

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