Cloaked in feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all.

-Emily Dickinson

Every year cardinals nest in our backyard and when I work on a project or merely step outside at the wrong time, they dive bomb so closely that I can hear and feel the wind in their wings.

Owls tend to have more feathers than other birds. A team of researchers and volunteers once took over forty-six hours to count 12,230 feathers from a deceased Great Horned Owl. Before that, no one knew.

Some say owls have soundless flight, but it is technically nearly soundless, and it won’t register to human ears anyway. There is a debate that owls evolved this way either so their prey don’t hear the owls approach or so the owls hear their prey instead of their flight. (Why can’t it be both?)

When observing this owl family, I have a reoccurring day dream, fantasy, nightmare that dad or mom will drop out of the tree, swoop, and come at me. (This may or may not be influenced by a real-life experience when a rooster attacked me.) But it appears the owls are disinterested in people. After all, the owl-paparazzi was waiting with cameras poised before the owlets cracked their shells.

Despite their seeming indifference, I keep in mind that they are wild.

Speaking of feathers, did you know it is illegal to possess an owl (eagle, songbird, hawk, etc.) feather. If you come across one, remember to leave it as you found it and take a photo instead.

Since we are on the topic of feathers, one of my favorite things to capture is the wind ruffling them.

What a delight!

Reading Reference: https://www.jenniferackermanauthor.com/what-an-owl-knows