Great horned owl breas-strokes across lake Michigan; video screen grab
How does a great horned owl cross the lake?
The answer is simple, most of the time: it flies.
But one owl proved recently that another way to cover the watery expanse is to swim, if the situation requires such an extreme measure.
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The accompanying footage shows a great horned owl moments after it was chased downward and ultimately into Lake Michigan by peregrine falcons.
The iconic raptor was spared the falcons’ wrath, but forced to find its way to shore, and the footage reveals what many might not have known: that owls can, in fact, swim.
The method of choice, in this case, was the breast stroke.
Great horned owl rests briefly before flying away, seemingly unhurt; video screen grab
Steve Spitzer captured the footage from Loyola Park Beach in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, after spotting the owl in the water.
Spitzer, according to WGN TV, was with other birders and they were too busy trying to chase the falcons away to get photos or footage of the attack.
“I’m a birder at heart,” he said, presumably to explain why he wanted to save the owl from the falcon attack.
He also captured footage of the owl resting on the shore, looking tuckered out but otherwise OK.
A phone call was placed to a local bird rescue group, in case the bird was injured, but it flew away before help arrived.
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