Tag: tawny owl

Owls

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Very late dog walk along the path between the Orchard and Cromwell road, I came upon a barn owl sitting on one of the fence posts.  Not sure if it was confused by my bright head torch but it allowed me to get within 2 feet.  Only flying off when I said “hello owl”.  As it flew up another barn owl flew into my torch beam and both owls made off towards the allotments.

On the way back, two tawny owls were calling to each other in the trees by the farm house. Unfortunately I did not get chance to see them, but was entertained by their noisy calls for a good 5 minutes before I was reminded by my dog that we were supposed to be on a dog walk, and I headed home a happy man.

Noisy owls

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Got woken up last night about midnight by some almighty screeching coming from the nature reserve. Thought initially our cat was having a set-to. However, the source turned out to be a couple of owls. One was clearly seen in silhouette at the top of the semi-dead oak tree in the Hay Meadow by Lucy Brook just down from the Cromwell Road gate. It was tawny owl sized, but the noise was not what I was expecting from a tawny. A google search however turned up a clip of tawny owls fighting:

Searching also suggests that such noises are typically made by males, and it could be that a juvenile is trying to encroach on another’s territory. Is this plausible, Jon?

 

Off for a tasty snack?

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Earlier this evening there was a tawny owl calling from the top of the (virtually) dead oak tree by Lucy Brook, just south of the Cromwell Road gate. It flew off with a downward trajectory and looked to be heading for the marsh. Had it spotted for supper one of those field voles whose traces we had noticed during the last flush count?