"SOCCER OWL" ON THE AIR

In early June, during a televised soccer match between Finland and Belgium, and after about 15 minutes of the start of the game, a huge Eagle Owl flew onto the field and landed on one of the goal posts. The game was stopped for seven minutes because the owl was sitting on the field and eventually on both goal posts. It also gently cruised around the field, as you can see on the posted video-clip. Apparently, the owl had a nest somewhere in the stadium. The video is in Finnish, and the audience is heard shouting, "Huuhkaja! Huuhkaja,"meaning "Eagle Owl, Eagle Owl," as the owl is sitting on the crossbars goal. Check it out:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dMBFOiYxT0>

This remarkable sports-and-birds combination brought back at least one memory. It reminded us of a Monday Night Football game in the mid-1990s, when a migrant Sora landed on the edge of the field and was eventually broadcast to a vast TV audience.



David Curson, PhD
Director of Bird Conservation,
Audubon MD-DC,
2437 Eastern Avenue,
Baltimore  MD  21224
Tel: (410) 558 2473
E-mail: