Talon Marks in the Snow
This morning brought some telltale claw marks in the snow by our feeders. No doubt some small creature met its fate (or came too close) via the talons of some sort of owl.
As the picture below shows, the claws are apx. 1" apart, making for a total raking path of roughly 3" to 4".
Could those talons have splayed out to 4" in the hunt? My guess is that they probably could have. Who knows? But in any event, it's a rough world for little things.
The next photo shows the strange beauty of the sweeping flight of the bird.
We saw no blood, and no feathers, so there is some doubt as to the success of the swoops, though it's hard to believe that 3 or 4 assaults would yield nothing. Perhaps a
better question is, "What bird did this?" I lean towards "Otis" the Eastern Screech-Owl, or one of his ilk. Suzie thinks that the marauder might have been a Great Horned Owl. The following snapshot of Otis shows him perched in a 3" to 3.5" hole.
Could those talons have splayed out to 4" in the hunt? My guess is that they probably could have. Who knows? But in any event, it's a rough world for little things.
See you by those unforgiving feeders,
CapeCodAlan
