HRH The Barn Owl

A barn owl came to visit us yesterday. I've rarely seen an owl and never knew what a 'barn owl' looked like before that. The first thing that surprised me was its size. It was quite big- about a foot high. We found it sitting on the edge of our desert cooler under the window awning. It was quite an ingenious hiding place for a bird that size actually. It sat absolutely still. The only thing that moved were its eyes which were like jet black marbles. It had an unflinching, direct gaze that was quite unsettling, like someone drilling through your head and trying to read your mind. It had the typical owl brows shaped like a curved V, the bottom of which stretched over a flat nose into a vicious curved pink  beak. Wooly cream coloured feathers enveloped its body and the breast feathers had brown on cream polka dots. The bird's sheer beauty held me spellbound. I kept going back again and again to look at it. It suffered my unabashed curiousity with studied patience, only moving its head slightly when I made any sudden movement. The violent rattling of the cooler didnt affect it at all. But as the sun went down, the shine in its eyes became brighter and I dont know how, but I felt its expressions change. At around 8 in the evening, after almost seven hours of sitting still it disappeared leaving me with an acute sense of loss. I've gone back to that spot a dozen times trying to relive its presence. We've had birdy visitors before but none touched me as much as Mr Barn Owl did. There was a wizened look and a royal presence in its demeanour. 'I'm not to be trifled with', the eyes seemed to say. I agree. It was one of a kind and a cut above the rest.
And by the way, I checked with Google. It think it's a mister. The female has a brown coat. Or I could be wrong.


There once came visiting a barn owl
Who didn't once screech or howl
He said it all with his unflinching gaze
Then left us heartbroken,  in a daze
A deep, thoughtful and wise barn owl!