The person who made the following report to me, while not a birder, is a
keen observer of nature and her character is above reproach.
Last week she was attending to chores on her small farm when she spotted a
small bird fly out from a woodlot and land on the back of one of her goats.
She recognized it as an owl and from her description I concluded it was a
Northern Pygmy. The bird perched for about a minute, looking all around and
down at the goat. It then flew back to a nearby branch and studied the goat
with care.
For it's part the goat registered neither surprise or indignation at the
turn of events. I reached the following conclusions:
1) At least 1 goat on the island is either unflappable or oblivious.
2) At least 1 No. Pygmy Owl appreciates a mobile perch.
3) None of us can ever say we've seen it all!
Steve Ellis
Coupeville, Wa
sellis at coup.wednet.edu