The Owl is here. After all, there are owls, and then there are Owls. This would be the latter.
This is the superb owl. You may not like it, but this is what peak owl performance looks like. After 32 owls, a playoff between 12, and the final between the two elite competitors, we have this year's champion at last.
Just kidding—all owls are superb. Every last one: barn, snowy, great grey, or boreal, it matter not. So, to celebrate the arrival of all of this year's exemplary specimens, we have gathered a selection of these beloved (and mostly) nocturnal friends. Starting with this pal, who looks like an apple.