An owl landed on my head!

[Teepee]

I was standing on top of the hill where I live last night after my run, looking at the night sky and watching a tawny owl hunting in the field.

I was obviously doing a good impression of a dead tree becuase it flew in from the side and landed on my head!

It didn't stay for long though, I flinched when it landed and it took off. No sound and just a wisp of wind, awesome birds.


A special moment, thought I'd share it.

 

[sandbender]

Cool

I once had a barn owl pass within inches of my head, not a sound, eerily quiet.

 

[Dougster]

very cool. Leave any puncture marks?

 

[mark]

I was coming down a mountain ridge many years ago, and a golden eagle took off in front of me, no more than 6 feet away. Absolutely spectacular. I don't know who jumped the most - me or the eagle.

 

[bhofmann]

I just had goosebumps just thinking about that moment you had. Amazing.

 

[Wayland]

That's a moment you wont forget.

 

[ged]

A friend of my wife's stopped his car one night because he'd seen a big bird on the road ahead. He got out of the car and walked up to it, thinking it had been injured. He knelt down beside it and he realized it was a buzzard. It was engrossed in eating some road kill and hadn't noticed him. Then it noticed, and took off in a hurry, leaving him flat on his back in the middle of the road!

 

[sasquatch]

That's an awesome experience! I would have flinched waiting for talons to pierce my temple though. Definately an encounter you'll never forget, I've never heard of that happening to anyone else!

 

[Baggy]

What a fantastic experience

 

[Shewie]

Mental, I bet you papped your pants

 

[HillBill]

Your lucky it didn't scalp you as it took off again

 

[stekker]

You are a very lucky man because most of us people won't get this experience in a lifetime.
I bet you'll never forget it, and tell it your children and even your grand children.

Greeting Theo.

 

[Teepee]

No talon marks on my bonce but Rich was right about the papping

It was a strange day for things that fly yesterday apart from the Owl; a pigeon landed on a freshly painted window cill and I was watching that plane flying before the poor guy crashed on the A1 into an electricity pylon.

 

[Paul_B]

Amazing experience, makes my few large bird encounters seem tame. Must qualify that as encounters with ravens. Love them as they are such good fliers IMHO. Was on side of Scafell once taking a breather (I was knackered going up the steep side of the hill) and I heard a noise that sounded a little like the blades of a mini-copter. Like a proper helicopter noise but quieter. I turned to lookk over my shoulder to see a raven flying over my head in a perfect slow motion glide. It was less than 1m above me and the noise was the wind and thermals flapping the feathers on the underneath of the wing. I could see each feather and the fibres of some of the feathers (not sure what they are called but the bits that make the feathery bit).

Anyway it did a slow motion glide over me and down the hillside, crossing it in a search pattern. Watched it for a few minutes before it disappeared. Not the same level of contact as the OP but I'm a big fan of ravens and enjoy watching them. Like the time 5 paragliders came round a big fell in the Lakes gliding on the thermals. The crows on the crag all took off and scarpered but the ravens (3 of them) took off and glided in and among the paragliders flicking upside down and generally playing with themselves and showing off to the humans who were totally out of their place gliding up there. IF I could cope with abject fear of heights I'd have loved to be up dangling from one of those wings. Another time we had the pleasure of having a raven to lunch. We were sat on a rocky outcrop that had a perfect seat on the face of it. On the ground in front of us a large raven was watching us and would dash right in if any food got dropped. There is an intelligence in them I think.

Anyway, sorry for the slight hijack but people were telling their nature close contacts and for me the closest ones have been the majestic black birds known as ravens.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Are you any the wiser ?

 

[Ronnie]

Sounds like a very special moment - awesome is an overused term, but quite appropriate here.

Like the time 5 paragliders came round a big fell in the Lakes gliding on the thermals. The crows on the crag all took off and scarpered but the ravens (3 of them) took off and glided in and among the paragliders flicking upside down and generally playing with themselves and showing off to the humans who were totally out of their place gliding up there. IF I could cope with abject fear of heights I'd have loved to be up dangling from one of those wings.

I have a friend who was paragliding near Keswick, when an eagle swooped in and started tearing chunks out of his glider. It was getting to the point when he was considering ditching the wing and using his emergency chute. He's a top flier too, so was executing full on evasive manoeuvres - but no match for an eagle!

Fortunately it got bored and went away.

 

[Tengu]

Do you look like a mouse?

 

[harrisp]

My missus had a pigeon land on her head on a busy high street, she is terrified of birds and it got tangled up in her hair

 

[dwardo]

I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere....
Had a barn owl miss the top of my head by feet, needles to say i ducked!

 

[Barn Owl]

Nice one but as has been said, you're lucky it didn't pierce your noggin.