ML647579722

觀察細節

This may be the greatest creature on earth. I brought a friend with me who has never birded in her life and this bird changed her life, I think. The large, white owl sat like a lazy blob in the cornfield for close to an hour until it suddenly took off, flying within 20ft of some people. It looked like a beautiful, huge marshmallow with wings. I was trying to warm my frozen hands and literally jumped out of my car to watch as it landed on a nearby airplane hanger. All of a sudden we heard screeching and “look! a hawk!” (It was a peregrine falcon, very boldly dive-bombing the owl for close to a minute. The owl put on its fluffiest stance and held its ground though. As it re-adjusted, a red-tailed hawk zoomed out of nowhere, screeching its head off, but didn’t dare come close to the owl. We retreated into the car, but made sure we still had the owl in view. It was definitely rather focused on the many small planes taking off and cars driving by, but seemed relatively unstressed otherwise. When a few pilots walked around the building, it rustled a bit, eventually turning to face us all full on. A magnificent creature. The cutest thing I’ve ever seen. The best (late) christmas present ever.