NEWS: Watch out for that Tree - ORLY?

by **Andeavor** Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:59 am

Owl leaves imprint on Kendal woman's window

A woman returned to her Cumbrian home to find a near perfect imprint of an owl on her window.

The bird had apparently crashed into the window of Sally Arnold's Kendal home, leaving the bizarre image - complete with eyes, beak and feathers.

Experts said the silhouette was left by the bird's "powder down" - a substance protecting growing feathers.

Mrs Arnold said she could find no sign of the owl, so assumed it had flown off without serious injury.

She said: "Our first concern was for the welfare of what we suspected was an owl and we opened up the window to check if it was still around.

"Fortunately, there was no sign of the bird and we can only assume that it had flown away probably suffering from a headache."

'Very uncomfortable'

Experts from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) confirmed the bird was most likely a tawny owl because of its size and shape and the fact that they appear in gardens more regularly than others.

Val Osborne, head of the RSPB's wildlife inquiries team, said: "We don't very often see an imprint of a bird that's flown into a window that's this clear and where it's pretty obvious exactly what kind of bird it is.

"This would have been very uncomfortable for the bird but thankfully it looks like it survived as Mr and Mrs Arnold couldn't find it anywhere close by. Sadly, many birds aren't so lucky."

Birds often collide with windows or start to attack them, especially at this time of year with so many young birds around, the RSPB said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-14111152

by **Vektrix** Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:02 am

Youch for the bird.

I used to live near Kendal, however, I was 6 months old when I moved. My God Parents hpwever, do actually live in Kendal. As a point of note, I do not like Mint Cake.

by **Arkanay** Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:04 am

Lol. Owl, owl, owl of the jungle! Razz

by **Vago** Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:38 am

I've seen this happen before. Well not personally but I knew someone who had it happen to them. They took a picture.
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/107/d/2/1303096205_wings_of_death_by_alternate_beginning-d3e91lj.jpg
of course the imprint wasn't quite s clear.

by **Andeavor** Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:54 am

The weird thing is that I just recently watched a program where comedians had to figure out why some birds loose certain feathers that turn into dust and what they do with it.

by **Icedmask** Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:27 am

Imagine that "owl" on your window, when coming home late and it's dark outside...

Shocked

by **Goober09** Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:15 am

That looks extremely painful. In this case, the more detailed it is, the more painful it was for the owl.

I happen to get a lot of birds hitting me windows here. I've had it happen more then 10 times, and luckly none of the birds died from impact. confused

by **Red-Indigo** Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:22 pm

That would scare me, seeing that in the corner of my eye after a holiday. I feel sorry for the owl though. I hope it was okay. The powder coating print shows what sort of impact that must of had... poor thing!

Our house is at the top of a hill and has rather large front windows. The sky is reflected quite well in the front and we often get birds collide into them, usually small ones. The majority arent that lucky, which is sad.

by **OneDeadSlime** Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:07 pm

I wouldn't vouch that this isn't faked. To some extent, at least.

by **LordRemington** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:09 am

Ow for the owl. Weird that it would leave such a perfect imprint.

When we used to live in the blue mountains, magpies used to on occasion try and fly in and eat out cat's food, so we started closing the sliding door during the day.

Apparently one magpie didn't get the memo. Was sitting in my room and heard a loud thud. Went out to the kitchen an saw the magpie sitting in front of the door looking a bit dazed. It eventually got up and left so it was good.