December 2010 brought an unusually deep and lasting amount of snow. On a laborious but rewarding walk in the north Cotswold hills, I happened upon a Barn Owl hunting in the weak light of the mid-winter afternoon – the difficulty of the snow cover presumably having forced it to hunt well before dusk.
It is sometimes said that seeing an owl during the day is bad luck – I suppose time will tell(!) – but I feel that it was good luck to have come across it.
I was able to observe its delicate and precise flying habits for maybe about a minute or so, during which time I’d switched to a 70-300mm zoom lens that I’d luckily brought with me and managed a couple of shots. It flew slowly and deliberately, eyes fixed upon the ground while making intricate movements with it’s tail and wings – a picture of evolutionary perfection.
Shortly after this, it turned and saw me, coal-black eyes staring down the lens and into mine. Spell-bound, it took an effort of will to press the shutter, but I’m glad I did:
Just after this picture, the owl made an aerobatic left turn and fluttered away down the valley. I didn’t see it again but was glad not to have disturbed it any further.
After an encounter like this, it is easy to understand why Barn Owls are considered particularly special creatures and yet the “bird of doom” label as applied by old English folklore and numerous other cultures is equally relatable.
In modern, more prosaic times, Barn Owls as seen as delicate, beautiful and endangered, but witnessing its primordial habits among such a barren winter scene, I don’t mind admitting that there was a suggestion of something spectral: the silent, luminous hunter, effortlessly floating above the ground, its large unblinking eyes fixed upon prey. Not a ghost as such, but a vision of a forgotten world – forgotten but instinctively recogniseable, via an instinct I didn’t know I had.
In a more scientific sense, owls are very ancient as a species. They are thought to have a direct lineage to dinosaurs, with the first owls emerging over 60 million years ago. Perhaps it is this connection with a world older than humanity itself that elevates their status, as much as their evocative appearance.
A short episode that was thrilling, humbling and strangely moving. This owl was no alien, but a wild and ancient creature of the Earth.
AT Photo 