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?