How about a Burrowing Owl. One turned up in downtown Seattle at a
construction site a couple of years ago, hung out for a few hours around
some heat vents, then was captured and repatriated.

Gene Hunn.

On Mon, 11 Dec 1995, Phil Hotlen wrote:

> location: Bellingham, WA; Squalicum Harbor area;
> Marina restaurant (where I work part time).
> The restaurant is located at the end of an extensive
> fill area. Trees are absent, except for some bare
> saplings (ornamentals).
> time & date: 10 p.m., Friday, Dec. 8 `95.
> weather: dry, sub-freezing temps. (prior to wet, warm front).
>
> I went out to warm up my old car. After sitting there a few minutes, I
> turned my head in time to see a chunky bird flying right past my parked car.
> It was a mottled brown and whitish, as lit by a parking lot light. It
> had white markings on the face and forward-pointing eyes. The bird
> seemed to have a white, smiling mouth, with the bill as a nose---
> a fleeting impression. It then flew on toward the brightly lit
> restaurant entrance, an oasis of light. There, it circled around once,
> even as people were coming out of the restaurant only yards away. It
> then flew between the dumpster rack and the building, where it slowed
> down, almost hovering with shallow, bat-like wingbeats not more than 3
> feet off the ground. (There are some shrubbery and small rocks back
> there). It then disappeared into the darkness.
>
> This owl was never over 5 or 6 feet off the ground the whole time it was
> in view. Most of the time it was backlit, so I could not see its color
> pattern. It had a relatively large head, and no ear tufts that I could
> see. The wingspan was somewhere around 1 1/2 feet, and probably a tad
> less. A feathered moth!
>
> p.s.
> The only reasonable other possibility would be a W. Screech Owl.
> Screech Owls are resident in various wooded areas around Bellingham (see
> Terry Wahl`s new book: "Birds of Whatcom County" regarding the status of
> the two species). But the "jizz" of my bird was not the same (I've seen
> W. Screech owls in flight while I was stationed in Arizona many years ago).
>
> p.p.s.
> Less than a year ago, a Barred Owl crashed into a large window of this
> very same restaurant, but on the opposite side. That owl required a long
> period of rehabilitation. (I missed that event).
>
> Phil Hotlen <n8540420 at henson.cc.wwu.edu>
> Bellingham, WA
>
>
>