Owls that come from nowhere

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I realised today that birds almost always appear in my stories. Birds call, hop and peck, or even swoop past in the night (like the owl in my latest story). But I never plan it. I never think to myself, 'O-ho, I might just stick a bird in here. Yes, perhaps a magpie.' It's not like that at all. The bird just appears. Thinking about the birds got me pondering just how much I love writing (when I'm not hating it, that is). I love the fact that I sit down with only the vaguest idea what I'm going to write about, and then characters appear and do things, and even birds arrive and do birdlike things. It's like a movie the way it all pans out. And once I've worked on a story for awhile, it becomes so real and true in my head, I almost believe it all actually happened (I don't truly believe it; I'm not crazy. Or so I tell myself). So I'm wondering if other writers have recurring creatures or objects? I don't mean themes or topics, I mean the weird mouse that's always in the corner or your characters forever eating cheese. What is your 'bird'? I'd love to know.