A Superb Owl

photo by Brian Kushner



I am not a football fan,  and every year during the Super Bowl, I enjoy the Puppy Bowl.  If you've never seen it, tune in.  It's the tenth year for the Puppy Bowl, and it's very entertaining.

But one of my Facebook friends played on the words and came up with Superb Owl, which I love.
And indeed, this winter we on the East Coast of the United States have been visited by several hundred superb owls, the Snowy Owls from the Arctic tundra.

Here's one laughing:

Many birders and photographers have been following these owls over these two months.  Many of the birds have settled down in places like Assateague Island, or the farm fields of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Here's one being weighed and measured on Assateague by bander David Brinker, photographed by David Allan Sklar:

Here'sone photographed by Russell Joseph Reynolds in rural Ohio:

But the one who has captured the imagination of so many of us is the DC Snowy. This bird was spotted perched on the awning of a CVS pharmacy in downtown Washington DC:

Another photographer caught her ( we think it's a Female, because of her size) perched on a park bench in MacPherson Square:

People have been coming around to see her, though she's up high on the Washington Post Building most days. She hunts at night -  and catches and eats rats ----plenty of them in Washington!

But yesterday I read the reports that this bird was hit by a bus.  She did survive and was picked up by Animal Control, who checked her over and took her to the experts at the Washington Zoo:

Apparently she has an injured toe, and is dehydrated ; she looks a little the worse for wear.

but her eyes look alright.

I am hoping she will be ok, and will be treated and released ---- somewhere far away from busses. Someone suggested that they transport her down to Southern Maryland, way down by St. Mary's City. That would be an excellent idea.