This super slo-mo video of an owl has nothing to do with astronomy. It’s just really cool.
Watching the end made me suddenly want to cross my legs and cringe. Yikes.
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.
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November 25th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Not just you whatever is on the receiving end of those talons is in for a bad day
November 25th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
,,,and for those getting an earful of the stolen climate researchers email, here’s something from CNN that points out the fallacy of quote mining.
GAry 7
PS That’s a BIG bird.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/23/hacker.climate/
November 25th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
ObRush: “Fly by night, away from here….”
November 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Well someone needs to put this blog back on topic!
http://weirdthings.com/2009/11/new-evidence-for-life-on-the-martian-meteorite/
November 25th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
We often hear and sometimes see owls while observing, so I’d say they are most appropriate for an astronomy blog. Nothing like observing in the northern Adirondacks with Barred Owls calling close by on either side, and Loons calling at the echo prone end of the pond.
Clear skies, Alan
November 25th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Oh! Oh! Can I complain about you posting non-astronomy stuff on your astronomy blog???
Hehe.
November 25th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
nightmares!
November 25th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Very cool!
November 25th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
While there’s a myth (debunked) that ducks’ quacks don’t echo, loons’ calls are made of echo.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Surely, due to his good night vision, an owl would be a good astronomer.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
The last thing seen by many a field mouse.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I’m sure this information is out there, but – how was this done? Camera disguised as a rabbit?
November 25th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
You never know, there might be something living elsewhere in the galaxy the looks like an Owl.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Off topic, but your headline reminded me of a run I took with a buddy a couple of years back along a running path in Calgary that follows the banks of the Elbow River. The path was fouled with excrement from Canada Geese and my buddy stepped into a patch. He filled the air with expletives, but wasn’t paying attention to the fact that we were heading for a dip in the path that only just accommodated someone’s overhanging deck. I shouted “Duck!” and he replied “No, a ^*#@! goose!” just as he smacked his noggin.
As I said, nothing on topic, but…
November 25th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I’m staying away whatever he or she was using for bait.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I was watching the Leonids a couple of years ago when a Great Horned Owl flew directly overhead. It was quite startling, as it took a couple of seconds for me to work out the scale of this silent, winged silhouette and identify it.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Notice that the legs don’t look like a bird’s legs. They look extraordinarily long, like those of a rabbit or a frog. Or is that just me?
November 25th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Wasn’t just you seeing wierd things, Brian, at about 17 seconds I got a distinct impression of something Cthulhoid for some reason!
November 25th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
“And Lo! The Bird is On The Wing”
Omar Khayyam was an astronomer and a mathematician, btw.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
I use to wander why they were associated with witches, in some cultures, until I heard a pair of courting Barn Owls screaming late one night. Talking about some scary stuff! On another encounter, I was hiking when I came across a pair of Barred Owls hunting in the forest. It is amazing how fast, beautiful, quiet, huge, and ghostly these owls can be in the wild.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
@Grizzly,
Ugh, I hate Canadian Geese. My uncle used to own a home by a lake. We could walk to the pier barefoot, get on a boat and row around. The only problem was that Canadian Geese were there too. It wasn’t a minefield. That implies great areas of clear land and then a “mine.” It was an inverted minefield. There were scattered patches of clear land surounded by great distances of goose droppings. You needed to hop from clear patch to clear patch hoping that you didn’t miss/slip.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Coincidentally, Not Exactly Rocket Science recently had a post about the talons of birds of prey, and how they’re adapted to different diets and modes of attack.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:37 am
@arensb,
Adapted? Weren’t they created that way to render rodents, just like human hands were created in a particular fashion to more readily grasp bananas (and other banana-shaped objects?)
November 26th, 2009 at 2:35 am
And I was expecting a dull image of the Owl Nebula
Owls are just so cool. I used to dream about them when I was a kid – probably an after-effect of The Owl Who Was Afraid of Dark, a book with an astronomical theme, btw.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:31 am
I had the opportunity to work with birds of prey one summer, doing shows for tourists. Carrying a Great Horned Owl on your forearm isn’t too much effort, until they get nervous and start sqeezing those talons. Even with a glove its a lot of pressure!
November 26th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Phil, I only wanted to tell you I have just received the best book in the world, in Murcia (Spain). And, by the way, I also received your book! ;o)
November 26th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Canada, not Canadian. Most of the Canada Geese are actually United Statesian.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
The owls are not what they seem…
November 26th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
This illustrates why you should always wear a hat in the woods, particularly at dawn and dusk. Hair is prey to an owl.
November 27th, 2009 at 10:56 am
AND DUCK!
REALLY DUCK!
SALLY SPARROW
DUCK NOW!
I ought to say it.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I was doing solar observations one day, er, I should say the computer was doing observations; I was watching a field mouse at my feet. Much more entertaining. Apparently, I was sitting still enough to be landscape. A red-tailed hawk dove in out of nowhere and
BAM!
Scratch one mouse.
/poor mousie
//cool story, bro.
December 26th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Yes a beautiful burrowing owl. The local parks department has invited them into our local bay front park to keep the rodents down. They are active at dusk, and even before you can see them hovering in the westerlys which are quite strong here across from the Golden Gate.
One day I was walking with my dog past some brush and one flew out. That was quite an experience. But I had no camera.