The Wise Hours: A Journey Into the Wild and Secret World of Owls

Owls have existed for sixty million years and in the relatively short time we have shared the planet with these majestic birds they have ignited the human imagination, appearing in our myths, songs, and stories as predators, messengers, emblems of wisdom, and omens of doom. But even as these birds continue to captivate our collective consciousness, celebrated British nature writer Myriam Darlington finds herself-after a chance encounter with a domesticated Great Grey Owl-struck by all she doesn’t know about the true nature of these enigmatic creatures. What, she wonders, are owls really like in the wild and what might we learn from them?

On a quest to tell a new story about an iconic yet remarkably little-known species, Darlington begins her fieldwork in the British Isles with her teenage son, Benji, and alongside researchers and volunteers who are determined to protect owls and their fragile habitats. As her avian fascination grows, she travels to France, Serbia, Spain, Finland, and the frosted Lapland borders of the Arctic, for rare encounters with an array of owl species–observing how they hunt, breed, nest, and survive. But when her son succumbs to a mysterious illness, her quest to understand the elusive nature of owls becomes entangled with a search for finding a cure for her son.

In The Wise Hours, Darlington watches and listens to the natural world and to the rhythms of her home and family, inviting readers to discover the wonders of owls alongside her, while rewilding our imagination of the mysteries, fragility, and magnificence of all creatures.