Lady Grayl: Owl with a Mission

David Allinson is the president of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory in Victoria, B.C.

This book is a story of the author’s relationship with Lady Grayl, a
captive great gray owl, and the owl’s role as a public educator. With
objectivity, insight, humor, and sensitivity, Nero conveys Lady
Grayl’s eccentricities and behaviors, and his close personal
experiences with this majestic bird in the security of her outdoor pen
and during her more than 250 public showcases. The owl’s calm demeanor
often fooled the uninitiated into thinking she was stuffed!

In 1984, as part of a co-operative research project in Manitoba, a
young, sickly Lady Grayl was taken from her nest in the hope that she
could be nursed back to health, and then would serve as educator and
fundraiser for conservation purposes. The captivating story reveals how
the relationship between the author and the owl was mixed with mutual
tolerance and reliance. Nero’s sense of wonder has not been jaded even
after 25 years of personal research into the lives of great gray owls.
My only disappointment is that there wasn’t more information about the
distribution, breeding, courtship, and diet of wild great gray owls.