Something high up in the almost-barren pecan tree towering over the backyard directly behind us caught my eye. A mass too large to be a nest, too solid to be a clump of leaves clinging stubbornly to the limbs. I doubted my first intuition, thinking instead perhaps a cat had somehow managed to make its way out onto the precariously narrow branch, but a couple swivels of the head banished any doubt. It was an owl.
Its body was full and hunkered against the wind, which blew up its back, ruffling feathers and making a few feathers dance up between the two permanent peaks on other side of its head. Its back was to us, so only occasionally would the head twist towards us, where we could make out its face and eyes. At one point, as it noticed something of interest off to the right, its whole body lifted and straightened, its head alert and keen.
We scrambled to grab binoculars and took turns watching it in wonder. Jeremy grabbed the camera and the zoom lens to try to get one dusky, dark picture, but as he focused, the viewfinder filled with wings as the creature took flight, leaving us awestruck in its wake, curious and wondering, "What?", "Where?", "Why?", and (of course) "Who?".
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