Wow, the antithesis of a Disney movie. Don't know how else you'd translate it; I suspect you're right about what happened--wrong place, wrong time for the owl. Perhaps the coyote was stalking the same rabbit? More typically I'd expect the owl to see the coyote and simply leave.

Neighbors found a dead pigeon in their backyard and not too far away, a dead hawk. As best as they could figure, the hawk hit a wire while attacking the pigeon and broke its neck.