Owls Are Not Omens

Male Barred Perched over Casket

Several weeks after my previous encounter with this male Barred Owl, I opened my back door to find him perched immediately outside, just above the casket of my beloved dog waiting for spring to thaw the ground before burial.

While comforting in its unexpected presence at a time of grieving — Owls are not omens. They do not magically appear at significant moments in the lives of humans. Owls are birds with their own busy bird-lives. Simple animals meeting the needs of daily survival.

He was likely perched to hunt a patch of reeds beside the driveway, as he had done many times over the years. Often on summer nights, he has used this branch beside my bedroom window to call out to his mate. The pattern of timing this for thirty minutes after my lights go out and I begin to fall asleep is only coincidence — the natural result of living in dense Barred territory in an old country home offering field mice and chipmunks on the menu.

11 March 2025

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