Nov 28th, 2019

Author: donich_admin

Owls are back in force

We have at least one pair of tawny owls in the garden at the moment. I am often wakened early in the morning by the “twit-twoo” of the courting couple and sitting here at 7:30pm I can hear them loud and clear.

I love owls and wish we could see our residents but unfortunately it is pitch dark outside. I’ve never seen a tawny, although coming back from Glasgow late at night I once saw a barn owl fly across the road – and on bonfire night we heard one screeching out in the woods.

When R and I were coming back from our walk the other day we saw two buzzards circling round each other. These may be the same two that raised chicks somewhere near the quarry on the path to Ben Donich last year. I stood for quite some time and listened to the parents trying to encourage the young ones to try out their wings.

We also have an enormous heron in the garden at the moment. For the first time we saw him in the back garden rather than in the pond – and then today he was stalking along the margin of the fence near the river – obviously looking for prey.