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Night Owl

The tawny owl poked her head out of the tree hole, surveying the forest around her with large, black eyes like pools of ink. She hesitantly hopped forward onto a tree branch, her brown and tan feathers ruffling against a sudden burst of chilling autumn wind. My, my, winter will be fierce this year, she thought to herself as she stared up to the luminescent moon. Stars twinkled like crushed diamonds against the dark velvet of the night sky.

With a great swoop she fell from her branch, her wings easily catching the wind as she soared upwards, past the tree lines into the cool night air above. As she finally emerged from the leaves she gave a great cry of pride, climbing higher and higher, until she felt she could nearly feel the moon upon her beak. The chilling wind whipped against her feathers as she climbed higher and higher. At last she fell back down to earth, being but a tan streak in the starry sky.

Finding a steady course of flight, she swooped above the treetops, looking for tonight’s nourishment. She would need all the extra pounds she could for the winter that lay ahead. Her eyes focused upon bank vole, and she swooped down quietly into the tree branches overhead it.

The bank vole was nibbling delicately on a hazelnut, its nose twitching viciously as it chewed upon the morsel as the tawny owl watching it steadily from her high up perch. This little rodent was small with red-brown fur a large ears. It was a favorite meal of tawny owls, and this tawny owl was no exception. With lethal suddenness, she swooped down upon her prey, catching it within her talons before it had the time to twitch an ear.

As the tawny finished off the last of her unlucky meal, she heard the sound of another pair of wings. A quick glance upwards showed the outline of another owl flying above, smaller in stature than the tawny owl. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she once more flew above the trees to introduce herself to this new feathered friend.

As she closed in on him, her larger wingspan giving her the advantage, she noticed his odd coloring of white and black. The tawny owl had never seen a white and black owl before, and she was sure he was another owl. As she flew to his side she clacked her beak in greeting.

“Hello, friend. How do you fly this evening?” This was a very common owl greeting.

The owl turned to her, displaying a set of large yellow eyes. The tawny owl nearly halted mid air from the amazement; it was like this owl had taken a portion of the sun and placed it upon his eyes.

“I fly fine, thank ya for askin’. And chuself?” asked the strange owl in a stranger voice.

The tawny owl cleared her mind of her amazement. “Ah, well, I fly fine too, thank you for asking,” she replied with due politeness.

“If ya don’ mind meh askin ya, what matteh of owl are you?” asked the strange owl.

“Oh! Oh, well I’m a tawny owl. I’m actually quite common around these parts. And you? If you don’t mind me asking of course…” stuttered the tawny owl, quite surprised by his brashness.

“Oh, well I’mma white-faced scops owl,” said the strange owl, lowering his eyes in modesty.

What an odd bird, thought the tawny owl to herself. I wonder what he’s doing here…

“If you don’ mind meh askin’, can we perhaps find a tree branch of some such to rest our wings? I’m gettin’ a bit tired,” commented the scops owl.

“Oh, of course!” replied the tawny owl. “Yes, let’s do that right now.”

Both owls descended down to find a perch to continue their conversation.