West Seattle Friday: Ramp-closures reminder; high-school basketball; music; more…

Thanks to Craig Howard for the barred-owl photo from the Bonair hill (between North Admiral and Alki) taken Wednesday night – he explained that “we’ve looked for owls there ever since you reported on owls buzzing people. We found a barred owl in the dark we tried to follow around from tree to tree – it stayed close. I think it might have been eyeing our dog. Got a wonderful shot of it, and thought your readers might enjoy it.” Meantime, highlights for today/tonight:

INTERCHANGE PROJECT CLOSURES: Yet another reminder that the Spokane St. Interchange Vicinity Special Bridge Repair project starts this weekend. We first reported on this in November; 11 weekends have closures planned in the next few months, but NOT the same ramps, and NOT every weekend. This weekend, from 10 pm tonight through 5 am Monday, two ramps will be closed: Southbound I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge, and Columbian Way (Beacon Hill) to the bridge. Here’s the latest update, with a map.

BLOODMOBILE AT PCC NATURAL MARKETS-WEST SEATTLE (WSB sponsor): As the holiday season wraps up, Puget Sound Blood Center is on the road to replenish supplies. Walk-ups welcome – California and Stevens, 9 am to 3 pm (closed for break 11 am-noon).

HIGH-SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Big day/night with home games at our area’s two biggest high schools. First, the West Seattle High School schedule for today/tonight vs. visiting Franklin HS, from the Metro League website:

3:15 pm Girls JV Game
4:45 pm Boys JV Game/C Game
6:15 pm Girls Varsity Game
8:00 pm Boys Varsity Game

And the Chief Sealth International High School schedule for today/tonight vs. visiting Nathan Hale HS, also from the league website:

3:15 pm Girls JV Game
4:45 pm Boys JV Game
6:15 pm Girls Varsity Game
8:00 pm Boys Varsity Game

Seattle Lutheran High School teams are back in action tonight too, on the road at Tacoma Baptist.

LIVE MUSIC: See the WSB Event Calendar‘s section for today, where we have listings for C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) and Skylark Café and Club. (If your venue has live music, keep us updated so we can include it in our calendar! editor@westseattleblog.com)

Jennifer January 4, 2013 (1:13 pm)

Very cool owl shot! Thanks for sharing!!

m January 4, 2013 (3:07 pm)

That is an amazing shot. what kind of camera/settings did the photog use?

35this35mph January 4, 2013 (7:52 pm)

Fantastic photo! Thanks!

Craig January 4, 2013 (8:31 pm)

I shot it with a canon G11. It was a half second exposure with flash – hence the blurring background with the owl captured. (It was a lucky shot in all honesty.)

JumboJim January 4, 2013 (9:12 pm)

A Barred Owl will not attack a dog as prey. They eat small birds, rodents, amphibians, etc. Birds weigh very, very little in relation to their size due to that pesky need to overcome gravity. A full-grown Barred Owl weighs just a little over 1-2 pounds, depending on the individual; birds of prey rarely attack anything more than 1/2 their own body weight – too risky.
If it looked at the dog it would be coincidence (eyes gotta land somewhere) or perhaps it perceived the dog as a danger to itself and was ready to fly if it was too close.

Tony January 4, 2013 (9:24 pm)

Good shot Craig, honestly owls are very hard to capture they can be spooked easily when you have a given shot. The background also adds to the mystic, very attractive and happy that you had the chance to witness this!

Ex-Westwood Resident January 5, 2013 (10:24 am)

birds of prey rarely attack anything more than 1/2 their own body weight – too risky.

No sure I believe this. I’ve seen full grown Bald Eagles carry away fish that are most definatly more than half of their 8-14 pound full grown weight.

Owls have been know to carry away small cats and dogs, along with all types of rodents. Yoiu are saying that a full grown Barred Owl can only carry away 8 to 16 Oz????

The amount of weight a bird (or anything that flies for that matter) depends of a few things; but the most important of those are lifting power. The greater the strength and wing span the greater the lift.

Craig January 5, 2013 (12:15 pm)

Before the discussion becomes too much more focused on the dog comment… The owl was simply watching our dog’s movements. She’s 45 pounds. It was about threat, not dinner.
All interesting background though.

Sorry, comment time is over.