The Klockwork Raven

I never considered myself a bird person.  I mean I had a canary when I was 7 and a parakeet when I was 12 or 13, but I wasn’t really into them.  They were cute, the parakeet was vicious, but after they were gone to the big nest in the sky,  I never really got into having another one.  I was into dogs and horses.  When I was 8 I started riding and the horse phase lasted well into my 20’s, but by then, having a horse was beyond the contents of my wallet and it’s potential.  We always had dogs in the house while I was growing up.  I continued to always have dogs when I was living on my own.  It was comforting.  It almost killed me when I had to leave my dogs behind when I moved here to be with my husband.  My lab loved my room mate more and my doberman was so neurotic, she wouldn’t have lasted the quarantine period.  Luckily my room mate took them and they lived with him until the end of their lives.

I have to say that there were a few birds I always were impressed by – eagles, condors, turkey vultures and owls.  Where I grew up, the only birds of that type I really saw with any frequency were the turkey vultures, huge birds making lazy circles in the sky.  Occasionally on my way to work, there was a family of turkey vultures who would sit like harbingers of death along the roof line of some poor persons house.  Due to deer kills by cars you could also find them feeding on the carcasses along side the roads before the highways agency came and picked them up.

I did love owls even from the time I was a child. Whether it was Owl in Winnie the Pooh or some fairy story about talking animals.  I just thought they were beautiful creatures.  Unfortunately, due to wildlife laws in the New Jersey where I grew up, you couldn’t really see owls except occasionally in a zoo.  I have since found out there were breeds of owls in the woods near my house, but I never heard them, and certainly never saw them.   You had to be specially licensed to handle owls and much later on you could have owls and other birds of prey if you were a falconer, however this required you to apprentice to a master falconer for 5 years before you could own one.  I never heard of any falconers in New Jersey.

I often tell my friends that I did medieval reenactment in the States.  I did, it was based on Medieval Europe and was started by fantasy authors in San Francisco, California.  Two of those authors involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism in the early days were Mercedes Lackey and Robert Aspirin.  I will probably talk about my adventures in Medieval USA at some other time, right now its all about Owls.

I moved to England in the AUTUMN of 1999 and soon found that their was an owl sanctuary nearby.  I was fascinated.  I decided I needed to be near these beautiful creatures and the other birds of prey that lived there.  I volunteered to work there.  During my time there, I was taught to fly these magnificent birds, all shapes and sizes by the resident falconers in exchange for my hard graft cleaning aviaries and feeding.  I grew more and more fond of the birds of prey and especially the owls.  I was also surprised to find out that I could own one of these birds without spending years learning and a fortune. I have to probably have to say at this point that the advent of Harry Potter did nothing for the welfare of owls.  They were too easy for some rich, indulgent father to buy for their spoiled child.  They often ended up being given up after the little darling got scarred by a sharp set of talons.

After putting in about 6 months at the sanctuary, and after joining the local bird of prey rescue group, I talked to those with years of experience and with their help, I purchased a small bundle of down and named her Havoc.  She was amazing, she spent her early months growing up in the office I worked at until she started flying  and her test flights would clear my desk or those of my co-workers.  At night, I lay on the sofa, watching television with this gorgeous creature laying on my shoulder.  I watched as every day she changed.  I was amazed that an owl had expression.  I watched her as she slept and as she was dreaming baby owl dreams, her face was far more articulated than I had ever imagined.  When I taught her to fly free to my glove, I was so proud.

She was a proper madame and could really be quite crabby, but other times, she could be quite loving. Every year when she had eggs, she would show them to me and want me to examine each one with pride.  As she laid on her nest, I would sit down next to her, she would pull my hand towards her and push it underneath her with the eggs and in that moment we were bonded.  It was truly beautiful to be so close to such a perfect creature who taught me so much.

She helped me teach others about owls and conservation. She helped raise money for injured wild birds of prey. She visited scout groups, nursing homes and village fetes. Unfortunately I lost my beautiful angel with silent flight to an infection caused by a broken egg inside her. I took her to the vet, but there was nothing to be done. So I took her home with me and slept with her next to me in the bed. She died there, with my hand on her breast. She took a piece of my heart with her, I only hope I see her again over the rainbow bridge. She opened the door to other owls and other wild birds I nursed back to health. She gave all these things to me and I love her for it.