news-record.com

GREENSBORO -- By now, Owlsley the owl is somewhere near High Point or southwest Greensboro, looking for a sturdy tree limb to roost on until nightfall.

He is only able to do so — soar, sleep, hunt, hoot — because people took an interest Wednesday in saving his life.

Owlsley. He is young and brown and big-eyed, with a pointy yellow beak and a brow that is furrowed.

“He” may not even be a “he.” We named him because the main character of a story should always have a name.

On Wednesday morning, Kathy Caviness was driving down Holden Road, kids in tow, headed to Sternberger Elementary. Sternberger, “Home of the Owls ,” boasts the bird as its mascot, which we do not believe to be coincidental.

At the Tanger Family Bicentennial Gardens, Caviness notices a murder of crows in the sky “going nuts over something.”

It is Owlsley.

“They nailed this owl,” Caviness says . “He fell to the ground and was in the gutter on Holden.”

She deposits the kids at school, then rushes to Owlsley. The crows are pecking and pestering. He cannot fly. He hops into the street. Cars dodge him.

Caviness stands in the middle of Holden Road, wearing pajamas and mismatched socks, shooing crows. She pauses briefly to consider what her neighbors might think.

She pushes Owlsley safely into the park.

There is a flurry of phone calls. Caviness reaches Sandy Proctor of High Point, president of Wildlife Care Inc., helper of hurt animals.

Proctor — not at all dismayed to be contacted about a wounded owl at 7:30 a.m. — suggests Caviness confine him with a laundry basket.

Caviness grabs one at home but returns to find Owlsley gone.

She searches. Employees from Bicentennial Gardens and nearby David Caldwell Historic Park search, too. They comb the trails, hoping to stumble upon a spooked bird of prey.

Hours pass. Proctor drives from High Point to help. It is daytime. Daytime is not Owlsley’s time. He is scared, confused. Crows are hungry.

Finally, he is found.

And he is fine.

Proctor knows a veterinarian who is certified to treat wildlife and examines the stunned owl at his High Point clinic.

No injuries to his wings, feet or feathers , the vet says. However, Owlsley’s feelings are hurt. He is young, his tenders say, unaccustomed to the greedy persistence of crows.

“He got a crash course in Hunting 101,” Proctor says. “He’ll be a little more careful next time.”

After a night spent at Proctor’s High Point home — the law allows injured raptors 48 hours of human care — Owlsley this morning flies free.

A teenage barred owl, in the span of one day, has joyfully disrupted the lives of a mother, a nature lover, several city employees, a couple of veterinarians and countless passers-by along Holden Road, who no doubt see Kathy Caviness a bit differently.

“When all is said and done,” Caviness says, “this owl will have touched 20 people.”

Nice work, Owlsley.

Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or margaret.banks@news-record.com