Seen the other day on a tree-bridge stretching over a mountain torrent. It was evening, typical time for barred owls to be on the hunt. It’s said that it’s extremely uncommon to have a sighting of a barred owl. Great camouflage. Of course, you can hear them just about everywhere in the evenings:
Their wingspan can be greater than four feet, but when they spread their wings… silence…
So different than Mourning Doves with their mournful flights, and pigeons with their flappety-flap-flap, flying rats that they are, and Ruffed Grouse whose chest-beating is equaled only by Silver Back Gorillas of eastern DRC. Owls may hoot a lot, but when they fly… sooo quiet…
I once remarked to a Franciscan priest why it was that Saint Francis loved nature so much, that nature hadn’t fallen like we have with original sin. The beauty of nature’s obedience to God, so to speak, works as an examination of conscience for us. That’s what Saint Francis loved about nature so much.
“Oh… wow… that’s brilliant… I never thought of that,” he said. “You want to give our guys a retreat?” he then asked.
God is good. God is always good.
ARISE! LET US BE GOING! 
Brilliant Father, thank you.
I have been struggling for years to explain why creatures like faithful dogs ( like our Parish Priest’s lovely black labrador Bentley) and our Syrian Hamsters affect and have affected me so deeply. This is precisely why.
When Chewy, our Syrian hamster was dying, the experience was indeed profound. This little creature, so thoughtful, mild and discerning (even when bashed inadvertently on the nose, he stopped mid-reflex defense bite when he realised it was our daughter’s hand) bore lengthy suffering and indignity with such patience and acceptance. It felt like Providence had given us a living parable.
Images from that period in our lives still regularly come back to me.
Thank you so much for the owl and for your blog.
You are right. We need to spend more time on the beauty of creation,
bless you father,
Karen in Cambridge, UK
Father,It is always amazing to watch and try to listen to birds of prey. They can sometimes be at hundreds of feet and then swoop down without a sound. Their see-all eyes are more on the front of their heads than other birds whose eyes are on the sides to get a more 360 degree defensive view. When we lived in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia there was a famous Bald Eagle couple living near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac near us. They were a legendary common sight. I once was stuck in a typical DC traffic logjam and I glanced out the passenger window and there, fifty feet away, was one of them perched on a dead tree totally motionless. Probably no one besides me saw him. And Franklin wanted a Turkey.Orémus, Murray
If nature will not “stand before the throne of God, I hope we will find her in all her glory on the New Earth. I hope I may get to groom the four horses in the next life.