I don’t know if I believe in signs, but this Barred Owl I saw back in May sure looked like one.
Mom and I were just wrapping up our walk on the path behind our house when something flew right in front of us and landed in a tree. I thought it was a hawk at first, but as it perched before us, I saw a round head with two giant black eyes staring at me, and I knew my time had come (take from that what you will).
I hadn’t seen an owl in nearly two years (tragic, really), and here one was; in broad daylight, too! It was probably the best opportunity I was going to get for a while. So armed with my colossal lens, I slowly approached the magnificent, nearly mythical, creature before me.
I was regarded with utter apathy, and it was glorious.
Ah, to be seen as nothing in the eyes of an owl! It was a bird photographer’s dream.
In the end, these were the images I managed to capture. I mean, the blue sky, the frame of hickory leaves? A more perfect opportunity couldn’t have been given to me.
A few days later, Jordan and I were walking, and we found a feather in almost the same spot as where the owl had been sitting. And it sure looked like a Barred Owl feather to me.
Perhaps I had been noticed after all.
