I had one of these very large owls buzz me at dusk as I was leaving work one evening. Came up from behind, so close that his wings poofed my hair which startled me, and he swooped up to the roof and parked. What amazed me was how silent he was with such a
huge wingspan. I would expect at least a little sound of air movement, but there was none. A bird that big could easily carry off full-grown cats and similar-sized dogs
...which might partly explain why there are no outside cats in my east mountain neighborhood...
There's a spot in So. Vermont, on the SW side of a mountain, where Great Horned owls roost in the ancient hemlocks. If you walk in there at dusk, you can stand under the trees and watch them take off on their nightly foraging journeys; if you *spook* them, they'll take off en masse without a sound from their massive wingspans. It's one of the most magical, profound moments you can experience in the outdoors to stand among these magnificent critters. ;)
