[CT Birds] Saw-whet pinball

[Greg Hanisek]

Dave and all,

I had a similar experience once. While living in NJ many years ago, I was 
driving along a country 2-lane highway one night, when I was startled by a 
loud, unnerving whack on the front passenger window. For a split second, I 
thought my car had been shot. I quickly regrouped and realized a bird 
(probably an owl) had probably flown against the window. I turned the car 
around and drove back. I saw a small owlish form on the opposite shoulder. I 
turned again, pulled up, reach out from an open door and picked what I 
assumed was a dead Saw-whet. I laid it on front passenger floor and drove 
home. When I got home, reached down to pick up the "corpse" and it gave me a 
nice puncture wound on the thumb.!!

Greg Hanisek


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Provencher" <davidprovencher at sbcglobal.net>
To: "CTBirds" <ctbirds at lists.ctbirding.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 8:51 PM
Subject: [CT Birds] Saw-whet pinball


> Sometimes you get good birds while driving. Literally. I was driving home
> from work tonight, after dark, when something like a softball came flying
> out of the woods and bounced off my truck's hood. Despite only seeing it 
> as
> a blur for a millisecond it looked suspiciously avian so I back tracked 
> and
> found a Saw-whet sitting on the side of the road looking slightly dazed. I
> pulled over, donned gloves, and went back to examine it to see if it 
> needed
> attention. As I approached it flew up into the woods and disappeared 
> looking
> rather capable of continuing to fend for itself thankfully. I imagine it 
> now
> has quite a story to tell of the one that got away.
>
>
>
> Dave
>
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