Time of Departure Arrived

Today was "the" day. The day that I woke up to find an empty owl box. Thankfully, most of my tears had been shed over the previous week, possibly in anticipation of this outcome which we all knew was inevitable. So there was mostly cheer instead of tears!

We have no way of knowing the next chapter of the owlets' stories. For someone like myself who had an interest in birds but never really knew a thing about barn owls, I got to see something out of the ordinary. I'm not going to talk about negatives in this post. I'm just not going to. This is about my own personal experiences with the Owl Box and what it meant for me. It's my catharsis, my time to celebrate four healthy new owlets out in the world. It's a bit like staring into the eyes of a newborn human child and wondering about the possibilities and knowing that there is a big wide world stretching out before them, all shiny and new and waiting to be experienced. That's going to happen for Molly's owlets. It's going to happen for Owlivia's owlets. New life, new additions to the species. And new terrors for the rodent population!

I know there has been negativity, I know there have been things flying around (no pun intended) which have darkened the experience somewhat (oh gosh I promised I wouldn't talk about negativity), BUT there have been some unintended, beautiful consequences of this experience. I have heard about people who have stopped using chemical pesticides once they learned that it can affect the food chain so dramatically. People have started to build owl boxes, or at least learn about the best designs for owl boxes. In my case I wanted to learn more about barn owls and their behavior and sought out Stacey O' Brien's book "Wesley The Owl" and then also her blog. I was privy to the experience of seeing Molly's owlets but I wanted to know more about owl behavior in general. It changed my mind about a few things. I have become more passionate about preserving native bird species here in New Zealand too. I want birders from all around the world to be able to come here and experience our various land parrots, our Kiwi, the amazing sound of our forests with its dawn chorus. I am proud of the Karori Sanctuary in Wellington for being successful at providing a predator-free environment right in the heart of the city, as well as their project to increase the Kakariki population.

But a lot of people found hope and comfort as well. And we formed a community that I found to be very unique. And very loving. And despite the politics and economics and somewhat of the later hoopla and conflict, the one thing I hope that people take with them from this experience....is LOVE. Those four owlets were loved by thousands, we wanted the absolute best outcome for their survival. They have left the owl box...but we can take that love with us and transfer it out into the wider world. I know, it sounds idealistic, but I have found that the MODs I met over the course of four months have been so supportive and loving and I want that for the people around them too. If we can cheer on four little entities without them knowing anything about it, imagine what we can do as a species for our fellow men and women?

So I take with me from this experience a whole heap of new friends, new perspectives on nature and the environment, and a drive to want to do more. Not just for the native species here, but for my fellow brothers and sisters out there.