FICTION — Rock Ptarmigan News Service
CEDAR BOTTOM TRAIL — A barred owl perched above a local hiking trail confirmed Thursday that it had been aware of passing hikers for several minutes before any of them noticed it.
The owl was discovered at approximately 7:42 p.m. by birder Ellen Park, who stopped near a large maple and pointed roughly 18 feet overhead.
Three other hikers looked up.
None saw the owl.
Park pointed again.
“It’s right there,” she said.
The hikers continued looking into the tree.
The owl remained motionless.
“It was humiliating,” said hiker Nathan Cole. “At one point I thought maybe she was teaching us a lesson about perception and there wasn’t actually an owl.”
There was an owl.
Cornell Lab describes Barred Owls as capable of passing completely unnoticed while roosting on tree limbs and flying noiselessly through dense forest.
This appeared to be the owl’s preferred arrangement.
When Cole finally found it, the bird was facing directly toward the group.
“That was the part I didn’t like,” he said. “It wasn’t that we found the owl. It was that the owl had clearly already found us.”
Park estimated the owl may have been watching the trail before the group reached the bend.
This was impossible to prove, which made the possibility worse.
The bird offered no behavioral evidence that the hikers’ arrival was surprising.
Cole asked how long.
“There’s no way to know,” Park said.
This did not help.
The owl remained on the branch.
Barred Owls have brown-and-white striped plumage that blends well with forest bark and shadow. Their broad wings and specialized feathers also allow remarkably quiet flight.
Park explained this while the owl continued doing nothing.
“So this thing can see us, hear us, and fly silently?” asked hiker Melissa Grant.
Park said that was a reasonable summary.
Grant looked at the owl.
The owl looked at Grant.
No one spoke for several seconds.
A fifth hiker arrived from the opposite direction.
Park quietly pointed up.
The newcomer immediately saw the bird.
Cole said this was “unnecessary.”
At 7:51 p.m., the owl shifted one foot and turned its head.
The group reacted as if a meeting had resumed.
Park reminded them that the owl was simply roosting and should be left undisturbed.
No one approached it.
No calls were played.
No flash photography was used.
The hikers moved farther down the trail.
Approximately 30 yards away, Cole turned back.
The owl was no longer visible.
He stopped walking.
“Did it fly?”
Park looked up.
“I didn’t see it leave.”
Cole stared into the trees.
Nothing moved.
The group could not determine whether the owl had flown, shifted deeper into cover, or remained in the same tree and simply won again.
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