I'm also a very keen birdwatcher and have been since I was a boy... some sort of very interesting self-selection going on here. I don't see a lot of owls in town, but now that I think about it, the last two times we went out to the country for lunch and left after dark, we saw owls. Both times Cape Eagle Owls. Last July we went to the bushveld and I had a cool experience with a Barn Owl (the one in your screensaver, Mythic), where I startled it while walking and it flew up from a tree about a metre from my head. They're almost impossible to see when they sit still in the daytime. About two hours later I walked the same trail to find it and exactly the same thing happened, again it took off about a metre from me without my seeing it, even though I was looking carefully. Different to banknotes in that respect. Barn Owls, by the way, are the most widespread owls, and the origin of owl myths in Western folklore because they've been hanging around houses since there have been houses. I tend to notice ravens more (well they are easier to see), and when I see one I always have a little spooky moment.
Back in my traveling days when I did a lot of walking and always needed a hand, I used to find money and gifts on the ground often enough that it startled me. Once I found 80 bucks in a Waldemart parking lot, spied it as sspicious from about thirty yards out, zeroed in, and grabbed it.
I picked up an 'empty' pack of Camels near Dog Beach in San Diego. It had two joints in it.
In my currently 'settled' domestic situation, the last notable occurrence of random monetary gifts from the universe happened a couple of years ago when I drove as fast as I could to a part of town we never go to while my wife tracked the transit of Venus across the face of the sun through a double-layered welding glass viewer that I had made for her. We sped along the freeway for miles, taking us far out of our usual routine. She caught some satisfying glimpses of the transit. When we exited to turn around, I decided to stop for gas. Found $120 USD in the gas station parking lot. Thanks, Venus!
Re: Just Saw My First Owl - Screen Memory?
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:10 am
by Twyla LaSarc
I love ravens. I had the best encounter I have ever had with birds with a pair of them on the CA coast.
Perhaps encounters with people can bring money as well when you need it. I went to a nearby city to visit some friends for the evening. I tossed a book I meant to lend to one of them in my bag. When I got there I gave it to him, partied with everyone and headed home...not knowing that the twenty I had aside for gas had wound up in the book and not my purse.
I knew I was low on gas and intended fueling at a city half inbetween destinations. I was about 20 miles from my friend's place when I passed a guy hitchhiking. I stopped and picked him up. He was trying to get to the same town I was going to stop for fuel in. It was the literally middle of the nite, but the encounter never felt weird at all. As I dropped the guy off, he gave me ten bucks. I resisted, "I was going this way anyway," but he insisted. So I took it.
I got to the gas station as I was reaching E and looked for my twenty. It wasn't there, of course. That guy's ten was the only thing that got me home that night. The next day, my friend in the other city called to say he had found the money and did I want him to send it to me?
A little girl who recently started feeding crows in her garden was surprised when the birds began bringing her presents in return.
The crows began bringing eight-year-old animal lover Gabi anything bright and shiny that they could find.
Her collection so far features dozens of objects including buttons, paper clips, nuts, bolts, a small light bulb and even some earrings.
She reportedly feeds the crow peanuts, dog food and general leftovers, but Gabi says she doesn't do it for the material rewards, but because she loves watching nature.
You can hear Gabi and her mum Lisa - who live in Rome - talk about her relationship with the crows in a The BitterSweet Life podcast.
Lisa reveals that the crows had once brought back her camera lens cap which she had lost while taking photographs near her home.
Crow expert John Marzluff tells the podcast that crows will sometimes try to build relationships with humans that feed them.
Re: Just Saw My First Owl - Screen Memory?
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:08 pm
by 82_28
(CBS Seattle) — A driver who lost control of his car and crashed into a power pole in Tukwila told police he was chasing an owl.
The crash occurred around 2:00 a.m. on South 150th Street, according to KIRO.
The driver smashed through a metal gate at 45 MPH before coming to a halt between a utility pole and a tree.
KIRO reports that the driver was not arrested, and was not found to be under the influence.
Dutch town takes up umbrellas against rogue owl attacks
Residents in the northern Dutch town of Purmerend have been advised to take umbrellas out at night after a spate of attacks by an owl.
Dozens of residents have suffered head injuries over the past three weeks at the claws of the rogue European eagle owl.
Two runners were attacked on Tuesday, with one requiring stitches for five separate head wounds.
The European eagle owl's usual prey are small mammals and birds.
Falconer
One of the sites of the attacks has been a home for the disabled.
Liselotte de Bruijn, a spokeswoman for the home, told the AFP news agency that residents and workers had suffered at least 15 separate attacks by the nocturnal bird, which remains at large.
"During the day there's no problem, but at night we now only venture outside armed with umbrellas, helmets and hats, anything really, to protect ourselves," said Ms de Bruijn.
Dutch bank Rabobank has donated umbrellas to the home, and a spokesman for the company told local broadcaster RTVNH that it intended to send a falconer.
The Dutch Owl Foundation says the animal's unusual behaviour may be the result of being reared in captivity and associating humans with food, or it may simply be that the owl has heightened hormone levels as the breeding season begins.
Purmerend council advised residents against attempting to capture the owl.
"These procedures can still take some time," a statement said. "Meanwhile, we are advising people to stay away from the owl."
The European eagle owl is one of the world's largest owl species, with a wing-span of up to 1.8m (6ft) and weight up to 3kg (7lbs).
Re: Just Saw My First Owl - Screen Memory?
Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 2:22 pm
by 82_28
Jesus. What's up with owls right now? They're popping up everywhere.
Dutch town takes up umbrellas against rogue owl attacks
Residents in the northern Dutch town of Purmerend have been advised to take umbrellas out at night after a spate of attacks by an owl.
Dozens of residents have suffered head injuries over the past three weeks at the claws of the rogue European eagle owl.
Two runners were attacked on Tuesday, with one requiring stitches for five separate head wounds.
The European eagle owl's usual prey are small mammals and birds.
Falconer
One of the sites of the attacks has been a home for the disabled.
Liselotte de Bruijn, a spokeswoman for the home, told the AFP news agency that residents and workers had suffered at least 15 separate attacks by the nocturnal bird, which remains at large.
"During the day there's no problem, but at night we now only venture outside armed with umbrellas, helmets and hats, anything really, to protect ourselves," said Ms de Bruijn.
Dutch bank Rabobank has donated umbrellas to the home, and a spokesman for the company told local broadcaster RTVNH that it intended to send a falconer.
The Dutch Owl Foundation says the animal's unusual behaviour may be the result of being reared in captivity and associating humans with food, or it may simply be that the owl has heightened hormone levels as the breeding season begins.
Purmerend council advised residents against attempting to capture the owl.
"These procedures can still take some time," a statement said. "Meanwhile, we are advising people to stay away from the owl."
The European eagle owl is one of the world's largest owl species, with a wing-span of up to 1.8m (6ft) and weight up to 3kg (7lbs).
OK, which of the staff was mean to the owl?
I ask because back when I was on the food trucks in red square we had one cook that would mess with the seagulls and crows. He would yell, clap, strike at them with his broom and otherwise bother them. His truck had to be washed more than ours because it was obviously a target for the birds.They would also swoop next to his head and harrass him in other ways
He also wore a do-rag kind of hat and a hoodie. I was wearing a black scarf and hoodie at the time. One day, I'm relaxing on break with another cook and I feel a distinct 'plop' dead center on my head. I took off my scarf- HUUUUUGE seagull shit. I just know I was collateral damage because from above, no doubt I looked like the other cook. (for the record, I always fed the birds and they mostly left me alone...)
Perhaps the owl is cueing off uniforms or some other garment, which in a institutional setting is likely to be similar.
Re: Just Saw My First Owl - Screen Memory?
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:12 pm
by BrandonD
My boss at an old job had an interesting side-hobby: she was a guerilla wild bird veterinarian. Meaning that she had no formal qualifications to do such work, but all the veterinarians in the area knew about her and since there existed no "legitimate" wild animal rehab center, if someone brought in an injured wild bird they would be surreptitiously directed to her.
She owned an empty property and it was filled with cages of different shapes and sizes, containing everything from hawks to woodpeckers to vultures. I would often visit to see what new birds she had.
The most memorable by far were a pair of horned owls. They needed a special cage that was permanently in shade. She opened the front door to the cage and asked me to walk in, but only slightly. When I walked in I could see them giant and eerie in the shadows. I heard a rapid clicking noise. She said not to get any closer, they make that noise when they are threatened and will attack if you get closer.
Re: Just Saw My First Owl - Screen Memory?
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:00 pm
by NaturalMystik
Those silver coins are amazing! I'd love to find one of those. Something tells me however much I think about them, I probably won't find one on the street somewhere...
