I love owls. I haven’t seen an owl in a long time beyond in zoos or rehab centers- the last time I saw an owl in the wild it was an enormous, quiet great grey owl that swooped out of a stand of dead trees near the Missouri while my father and I were pheasant hunting.

Well, today I got to encounter a barred owl! Barred owls are fat, fluffy, beautiful large owls that have imposing looking talons and beautiful faces that are slightly rounded so as to direct sound to their ears so they can hear everything even better. Owls, in short, fascinate me. Birds of prey in general do.