Wise old bird

“A wise old owl sat on an oak,
The more he saw the less he spoke,
The less he spoke, the more he heard,
Why aren’t we like this wise old bird?” 
Edward H Richards

I certainly do not have any oak trees in my garden; I do however have an abundance of owls. How blessed am I?

Every morning we have a least half a dozen flitting from the shed roof to the fence, balancing precariously on a small fir tree or just walking in the drive. They have absolutely no fear of us whatsoever and will allow us up close and personal. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever hope to see an owl in the wild in so much detail.

You will recall last year I wrote about Ollie coming down my chimney on the night of my birthday and then sitting quietly behind the curtain all night so he could wish Agile a happy birthday too. It seems Ollie and his extended family think we are okay as humans go and just do not stop visiting us. I had believed that owls are only seen in the early morning or early evening but not so with Ollie and his family. I see them all times of the day; I could see them all times of the night, I dare say, if I had night vision and did not need to sleep.

In folk lore an owl is said to be endowed with wisdom. I did not think it very wise of Ollie to fall down my chimney; he could so easily have been hurt or met a cat at the other end of the chimney. Fortunately neither of those things happened. He was gently caught and released through a window. I did however insist that a ‘lid’ was put on the chimney so that it could not happen again.

Aren’t we all so blessed where something so simple, yet so wonderful can be seen every single day?

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