By Crystal Doyle, New York
A local raptor expert and friend, David, has been catching, banding, and releasing raptors near Rochester, New York, for twenty-five years. He is especially interested in aiding the tracking and research on snowy owls—stunningly beautiful white owls with bright yellow eyes and bristly feather-covered beaks.
Snowy owls are one of the heaviest and largest owls in North America. Although they make their home and breeding grounds in the Arctic, younger snowy owls migrate south to Canada and the northern United States. It is thought that their numbers are dwindling due to changes in the Arctic climate.
One frigid winter day, David invited me to come along to check the condition of some snowy owls thirty miles south of Rochester. Snowy owls prefer wide-open spaces like farm fields where they can easily spy small mammals or birds they depend upon for food. They sometimes perch on top of telephone poles but can be difficult to spot while sitting, unmoving, next to white clumps of snow and corn stubble.
On an Adventure
The air was below freezing—twelve degrees Fahrenheit or minus eleven Celsius. Cold seeped through my thick boots and gloves, but the sun shone brightly as we drove south. After about twenty-five minutes, David spotted an owl.
David pulled his white truck into the driveway of a nearby farmhouse and knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman with a line of children behind her opened the door. David explained what he was going to be doing with the snowy owl and that he had a permit.
Pigeons swooped through upper windows of the farm’s big barn while we talked. One of the boys said, “Oh yes, we see a lot of that owl. He can have all the pigeons he wants!” They all chuckled at the boy’s comment.
After we left the farmhouse, David set a humane owl trap, which is a device designed to capture an owl without causing harm or stress to the bird. He gave me instructions: “Don’t ask questions, and don’t get in the way.” I knew I must stay quiet and small.
This was my first time coming along to catch a raptor, and I was thrilled. I’ve always been keenly interested in raptors, especially owls, and hope in the future (after a seven-year training period) to help catch and release raptors for research.
The experience today would turn out to be one of the highlights of my life.
Three Snowy Owls
Our first snowy owl of the day flew right to the trap in less than five minutes. David nicknamed him “Easy.”
We weighed and measured Easy, as David does with each owl. Snowy females are slightly larger, and males are usually whiter. All three owls we caught this day were males, remarkably white and pristine looking.
I quietly assisted as David weighed Easy, then wiggled a couple feathers free to send to a lab for DNA testing and to check for mercury and other pollutants. We measured and photographed the owl’s wings and tail so researchers could compare data. We fastened a band to one leg and recorded the band’s number in a logbook. 
Then David made a surprising offer. He asked if I would like to hold the first owl we caught and be the one to release it!
I carefully put my hand around the owl’s legs, as instructed. The huge claws protruded, but the owl was calm. When being held in this manner, owls are docile. It amazed me when the owl didn’t try to escape or peck at me. Easy stayed perfectly still, exuding a sense of dignity and serene beauty.
While firmly but gently grasping the large furry legs, I sang HU softly and talked reassuringly to Easy. “We won’t hurt you,” I said. I released him, and he flapped off into the cerulean sky.
As the afternoon lengthened, we caught and banded a second owl, and I released him too. Feeling slightly braver, I took a minute to caress the owl’s glistening white chest feathers—as soft as a bunny’s fur. I said to the second one, “You are Soul. You are a child of God. You are eternal. Soul exists because God loves It.” David remarked on how calm the owls became with me.
Waiting for Houdini
The sun was setting over the hills as we drove to the last spot for the day. David was searching for a particular owl he had nicknamed Houdini. David had tried to capture this owl twice before, and both times Houdini had escaped without being banded. It was almost completely dark when David whispered, “There he is!”
He parked in a spot with fields and woods on either side and a farm in the distance. Then he got out and set a trap. We sat in the truck, straining to see through binoculars. David turned off the engine, and the temperature dropped even more.
I thought about how this creature lives in a barren, inhospitable land. A white phantom of the night, the snowy owl is perfectly at home in the harsh Arctic environment. I felt suddenly sad about the changes coming to its natural habitat but hopeful that the snowies would adapt and survive.
We waited an hour for Houdini to appear. Finally, and somewhat humorously, he hopped instead of gracefully flying to the trap. We got him! He was quite annoyed that we’d captured him and snapped his beak several times with a loud clacking sound.
We completed all the measurements and banding. When it was time to return Houdini to the sky, David let me release him.
Houdini was calm as I held him. I sang HU and whispered to him as I had with the other owls. Then I asked, “Are you ready to go now?” I opened my heart and mind and listened for his answer. He turned to me and let out a single whistle.
Everything else seemed to fall away until just this incredible creature and I seemed to exist. Not only did I see Houdini as Soul, but he saw me as Soul. Moved by this inner communication, tears streamed down my face.
Seconds later, I lifted Houdini in my hands and gave the bird a little push up into the air. He opened his white wings into a twenty-eight-inch span and silently flew away into the night.
Spiritual Freedom
Later, while contemplating on my day with the snowy owls, I realized that the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, my spiritual guide in Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ, quietly whispers the truths to me that I’d been expressing to the owls before setting them free: You are Soul, an eternal being. You have spiritual freedom.
I have only to remember to listen, as I sing HU daily and practice the spiritual exercises taught in Eᴄᴋᴀɴᴋᴀʀ, to experience my own flight into freedom. It is a freedom of greater happiness, farther vision, and deeper realization of myself as a limitless being of Light and Sound.
I am thankful to have been given the gift of seeing the snowy owls not only as birds, but also as spiritual beings capable of intelligent awareness. I was perhaps able to give them an experience of interspecies communication, an awareness of the eternal nature of Soul, and love. My heart will always remember the soft touch of snowy wings.
—Photos and video by Crystal Doyle
Beautiful story and you could feel the soul of the owl when reading this story. It touches the heart and also touched my soul.
I know as I type this it is hard to believe but many years ago I was living in Mesa Arizona as a single parent, struggling in every way. I stepped outside my apartment and looked up in the night sky and just then a snowy owl flu by. My neighbor saw it as well. It was a spiritual encounter although I never understood the message. They are majestic birds!
Amazing!
Thanks for sharing!
thank you so much for sharing the lovely, heart-opening story
I was so moved by this story. What an amazing experience for you and the owls. It is as if the owls felt your kind and loving spirit and knew you would not harm them. Houdini looked as if he was in awe of you! Beautiful story, thank you.
How beautiful, that soul to soul connection! So lovely!
Amazing story that touched my heart ❤️ Thank you so much for sharing.
Such a heart touching story of the unconditional love that we receive as Soul from The Mahanta and how we are able to give that love away to every Soul we meet!
Thank you so much for sharing the love of HU in all you do!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing story. I learnt a lot.
I heard him whistle, and then he winked!
what a great experience for you!
Just WOW ! Such a beautiful experience of kinship beautifully told ! Thank you Crystal !
Thank you for sharing your Soul to Soul connection story and how vibrantly you were connected. The ECK is love and life . You and the owls experienced a divine gift.
Holly
Thanks for the beautiful story. So so sweet and all life is sacred when we are aware of who we and others are as soul. ❤️ Snowy eagles live in Wyoming as well. My parents had a log cabin built on the top of a mountain outside of Riverton, and my mom said a family of the snowy eagles were living in a hollowed out tree not far from her kitchen window. She could watch the chicks grow up and fledge. I have a mulberry tree & I have a pair of tiny little owls living in it. We are happier having animals in our lives! ❤️
Oh my gosh! How beautiful! What an amazing experience. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, everyone, for experiencing a bit of this so-special gift of spending time with the snowy owls, with me!
Thank you for sharing these beautiful moments.
Hi – where did you see details that I might not have seen? I’m curious! It sounds like you’re speaking of something specific in the story, like your comment is a hint to look more closely!
Thank you, Jo Jo! It was being my imagining!
This is just so beautiful. Moved me to tears. May the blessings be.
OMG! the video was amazing too! How precious to see the owl respond be still and fly away. Thank you for the pictures and the video. AMAZING!
Hi Sigrid! I feel your gratitude and appreciation! Thank you and thank HU, too!
beautiful story. How could someone not be moved by this wonderful experience. God is in the details. Look closely!
Thank you so much for your wonderful experience! Reading this, sitting here with tears. Thank you. Thank HU! Thank you, Mahanta!
Carol, I am so glad to read that this was food for your soul, as the experience was food for my soul! Very much so. Thank you!
It’s Saturday morning. The house is quiet and I always check my mail and Fb. Your post was waiting…In this Difficult time your gentle narrative and videoclip about the snowy owls was food for my soul. Thank you for your tender concern for Gods creatures ❤️
What a beautiful experience you had! Thank you so much for sharing
You’re welcome! Thanks for reading!!
Thank you, Crystal, for sharing such a wonderful experience with the owls! What beautiful eyes they have!