DOR Barn Owl, Weld

[Derek Hill]

COBirds,

One of the pleasantries of moving to a more rural area has been getting to hear Barn Owl(s) from my Milliken yard, close to the Little Thompson River.  Heard them regularly from my yard since late winter this year, and off and on occasionally throughout the spring and summer.  In fact just last night on my front patio I heard the familiar screech, which I hadn't heard for weeks now.  Unfortunately this afternoon I found the poor bird freshly dead on the road (DOR in herp terms), along Weld CR 19 approx 1/3 mi south of Hwy 60 between Johnstown and Milliken. Where CR 19 crosses the Little Thompson.  Saw a pile of feathery fluff on my drive home, pulled over to inspect, and sure enough it's a Barn Owl.  Such a beautiful bird but not in this state. I surmise it flew low across the road, or potentially dropped onto a rodent in the lane, and clearly some vehicle smashed it.  Looked only a few hours deceased.   Hopefully this late in the season, it may have been able to raise its last brood before succumbing to vehicular traffic.   Still has been a number of years since I've seen a live Barn Owl.  Location of dead owl found 3:30pm, 2 October 2018:

 40°19'44.59"N

104°53'12.23"W

Good birding,

Derek Hill

Milliken, CO