Whoo's at the courthouse?

Photo: Contributed - Don White

Owl at back door of courthouse, Saturday

Sheriff Don White spends his days dealing with people who break the law, not local wildlife.

But on Saturday, White encountered a big owl sitting at the back door of the Penticton Courthouse.

"I just stopped in, parked in the back and saw the large owl right outside the door, sitting and pecking at the glass and its reflection," he said. "I was surprised because you don't expect to see an owl at the courthouse in the middle of the day."

At first, White thought the bird might be injured, but when it turned and saw him it went into protective mode, spreading out like a peacock and clacking its beak.

Not wishing to walk past it, he went in through another courthouse door and took pictures of the raptor from the inside and outside.

Knowing it wasn't safe where it was, he opened the door from inside and shooed the bird away. It then tried to land on his truck.

He went out to the sidewalk and after a brief face off shooed the owl away. It took off and landed in one of the cedar trees nearby.

White isn't sure how the bird ended up at the courthouse, but Dale Belvedere at SORCO has a good idea.

The manager of the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls said the great horned owl chick most likely fell out of its nest.

Belvedere said the chick, which despite its size is only about six weeks old, is now in SORCO's care in Oliver.

"We got called to pick him up about 7 p.m. that night," she said. "He probably tried to fly and didn't quite make it."

She said the bird will probably be released in one to two months ... "once we know he's strong enough to hunt on his own and to fly."

White is just glad there was a happy ending.

"I felt relieved, because it was a lot safer in the tree," he said, unaware the bird would soon be in SORCO's care.