Afternoon Delight is a daily diversion for when you’re just back from lunch, but not quite ready to get back to work. Check back tomorrow at 1 p.m. for another one.

Once in Connecticut, I scared an owl. In midday, woke him up, I suppose — walking through the woods and then all of a sudden, what looked like a large part of the tree I was near seemed to take off.

I was far more scared than it was because 1) the owl was much bigger than I thought he’d be and 2) even after the initial surprise subsided, the experience was decidedly creepy because as he flapped and then glided away without a ruffle, he made absolutely no sound. Owl’s are nocturnal hunter-killers and their wings and feathers are specially adapted so they’re completely silent.

Which means, this spectacular video footage of a beautiful eagle owl in action is not the last thing a victim would see. Most likely, at night, he’d see and hear nothing at all — before those talons grabbed him.

(hat tip, The Daily What)