Page 23 - Out Birding Autumn 2023

Unexpected Neighbours
My village is 200 feet above sea level, in a hanging valley
where weather can feel unforgiving at times. Last winter
seemed to drag on longer than those previous, not
helped by my six-week chest infection. I really needed
something extra-exciting to look forward to. During
winter some of us add interest to life by spending time on
the hills watching what the local eagles are up to, trying
to work out who's who and where. I was watching a new
(in 2022) Golden Eagle eyrie site to see if it was going to
be used in 2023, which it is as I write. At night, as well as
photographing the regular appearance of the Northern
Lights, I like to listen to our owls, two pairs of Tawny and one pair of Barn. Last year, not one owlet fledged on our peninsula due to a crash in the vole population, but by last winter, my cat, Tom, was catching a vole every day, giving hope that 2023 would be a good vole and raptor breeding season.
The long, hoped-for excitement happened in early March, when a mate came around one evening and we did a wee tour of the garden at dusk. The regular owls were clear- ly agitated by a new kid on the block, a male Long-eared Owl wooing away in the gar- den, duetting with a female next door. We had previously thought that this highly se- cretive owl lives in our glen. One was found dead on the road a few years back and is now stuffed in the living room of our (now-retired) postman, who also co-ordinates the local raptor study group. Then in winter 21/22, a motorist spotted one on a fence post by the roadside and reported it to the county recorder. I had often gone out at night listening, but to no avail. But there's nothing shabby about hearing, instead, the mournful call of Red-throated Divers on our local dam, or the call of Tawny or Barn Owls in the Sitka plantations. So, to have Long-eared Owls in the garden was just exceptional, beyond my wildest dream. That began a privileged view into the world of this, most secretive of British owls.
Detection is the biggest challenge with this owl. Tawnies are very obvious, and like Barn Owls, fly and call in the day, and use nest boxes we put up for them. (We have to put up far more boxes than needed by the owls as many boxes in our glen are used by Goosanders and Mandarin Ducks) . A few hours before dusk, Short-eared Owls can be seen displaying on the hill, often in competition with our Hen Harriers. But the Long- eared Owl does not come out until it's getting very dark. So unless you're in the right place at the right time, you'll miss them. But in the twilight, I could stand on my deck with the male circling overhead, wing-clapping as he went. Then the pair would duet together, the female having a slightly higher call than the male.
For many years, a pair of crows nested in a clump of tall, spindly conifers next door. This odd couple comprises a Hooded Crow male and a Hoodie/Carrion hybrid female.
23