On todays ride I saw my first...

[PaulSecteur]

...Owl close up in the wild. I had done a bit of a climb and had pulled over for a breather in the opening to a field. It landed on stump about 15 metres away. It stayed there for about 5 minutes before it was off giving me a fly passed at about 5 metres away. Seemed to be in its own little bubble of silence compared to the crows Im used to at the works car park.

... Bunch of tandem riders. Going at a fair old lick too. Noisy things tandem riders!

 

[Doseone]

Lovely. Owls are amazing animals and stunning to look at. Seeing wildlife is one of the great pleasures of cycling.

 

[MikeW-71]

Nice.. Encounters with wildlife are the best, and since bikes don't make noise, I can come across quite a lot. There's a Stoat that comes out to play on one of my routes and I sometimes get a Buzzard watching me go by from its favourite fence post on another.

Other noteable ones are a Fox that was out in broad daylight, and a Deer.

 

[jayonabike]

I had an owl fly along side the lorry as I was on the slip road on to the M25 at 4 a.m the other morning. Amazing.

 

[Profpointy]

No sho

Nice.. Encounters with wildlife are the best, and since bikes don't make noise, I can come across quite a lot. There's a Stoat that comes out to play on one of my routes and I sometimes get a Buzzard watching me go by from its favourite fence post on another.

Other noteable ones are a Fox that was out in broad daylight, and a Deer.

No shortage of foxes round where we live - see a few most evenings.
That said, i do live in the middle of Bristol - not so many in the countryside

 

[Profpointy]

Lovely. Owls are amazing animals and stunning to look at. Seeing wildlife is one of the great pleasures of cycling.

I agree. Always a pleasure to see an owl - driving at night sometimes see them sitting on fenceposts - not often but a fair number over the years.

A particular joy was hearing hooting whilst staying in a bunkhouse in Snowdonia (Bryndinas near Beddgellert for any that know it); peeped out the window to see no less than 3 brown owls sitting in a tree no more the 3m from the hut.