[obol] Short-eared Owl, Turkey Vulture, Eagles

[Cindy Ashy]

I was driving from Newport to Lincoln City today and in a wide open area south
of the first little bridge that crosses over the Siletz I saw a raptor sitting
on an electric line...at first glance I noticed it was about the size of a
Peregrine Falcon but when I looked again I saw it was an owl...and I slowed
down and got a good look...it was a Short-eared Owl....there was no good place
to pull over darn-it but definitely put a smile on my face.

Earlier in the day, I saw my first Turkey Vulture of the year flying over the
eastern part of South Beach State Park (seen from the jetty road).

Just after the Turkey Vulture disappeared from sight, an immature Bald Eagle
came  in flying low over the gulls attempting to chase one but chaos ensued and
chased it away....and I have a question....I can't remember where I heard this
or who I heard it from but someone once explained to me that all birds have
rather thin skulls and this explains why an eagle can be chased away by a
gull....and why smaller birds can chase off bigger birds in general...seems to
me that the eagles finally fly away during these gull gang attacks once they
have successfully "bumped" the eagle's head with their beaks...or come very
close to doing so...I have definitely observed this behaviorial response and
I'm wondering if others have as well? I'm also wondering if anyone has actually
seen a gull/group of gulls kill an eagle in this way?...or a smaller bird kill
a bigger bird in this way?

I saw another immature eagle flying very low over the interpretive center
parking lot at Yaquina Head and then another flying across the road near Rocky
Creek State Park as I was driving.

....so it was a day of unexpected raptor sightings.

Cindy Ashy


 
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