I often wonder why birds speak so universally to the sagging middle-aged soul that it has become a comic trope \u2013 the vertiginously swift passage from: \u201cIs that a robin?\u201d to: \u201cThere\u2019s a lesser yellowleg two hours\u2019 drive away, start the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is it the freedom they represent? No cholesterol, no mortgage, no self-assessment tax deadline to worry about? Or a sense of wonder in the everyday miracle of their existence, induced by an awareness of mortality?<\/p>\n
Whatever it is, I am in deep: disposable income frittered on fat balls; constantly snooping on feathery goings-on in the garden; home decor reminiscent of the Portlandia \u201cput a bird on it\u201d sketch.<\/p>\n
I spent Christmas thinking about one bird in particular: Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl (bubo bubo, the best Latin bird name), who escaped from Central Park zoo nearly a year ago. Having obsessively followed his every rat-swallowing, hooting, preening move from a distance, getting a glimpse was my only must-do when I visited New York recently.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have an itinerary of hot restaurants or exhibitions; I had a map of recent Flaco sightings. I even contacted one of his most assiduous and talented photographers, David Lei, for tips.<\/p>\n
Every day, I puffed my way around Central Park on a bike, scanning every tree, but all in vain. Flaco has become elusive and adventurous, eschewing the park for air-conditioning units and fire escapes, from the East Village to the Upper West Side.<\/p>\n
Lei says he waits for \u201ca report of hooting\u201d before heading out to try to track him down. Flaco has been filmed on windowsills, a looming wild marvel in this most human of environments, his vast orange eyes scanning apartments for \u2026 what?<\/p>\n
Some suggest a mate, in which case he is likely to be disappointed: eagle owls aren\u2019t indigenous to the US. There has even been a suggestion that he might see humans as potential partners, having grown up in captivity.<\/p>\n
Would I drop everything if Flaco \u201csuggested nesting sites\u201d to me with his giant fluffy talons, or emitted \u201cstaccato notes and clucking sounds\u201d (yes, I have read up on his mating rituals)? Instantly. Middle-aged people and birds: it\u2019s a powerful inter-species love story.<\/p>\n