A barred owl's snack on the run

Remember how I said this past winter that the birds were behaving strangely? Well, I have a great story for you that illustrates it. I didn't have my camera at the time, so I didn't post until a co-worker sent me a photo to go along with it. Thanks Amanda for the photo! And thanks to Ron for cleaning it up so nicely!

Anyway, our office at work is housed inside the first aid station. We were just settling down to lunch when we heard a knock on the door. When I opened it the nurse rattled off something about, "owl," and "rabbit." I rushed out with her to see what was wrong.

When I got to the front of first aid, I saw guests with cameras trained on a small wooded patch not 10 feet from where they stood. There, on the ground, was a barred owl clutching a rabbit. The rabbit was too heavy for it to fly away with, so it was eating it right there in the middle of the day amongst dozens of people!! I couldn't believe it! Barred owls are generally shy, so this was an amazing opportunity. It sat there eating for at least another half an hour before it finally flew away. I came back to watch it again and again. I don't know if there were just too many youngsters that year that the competition for food was stiff, or what, but there was a lot of odd behavior going on.

Here's the photo. It's a lot closer than it looks. That was taken with a cell phone. I was excited for days. I think my co-workers thought I was nuts. :)