Barn Owl

We are so lucky to live in a part of the country where barn owls are quite common.  They are such marvellous creatures.  The countryside around us here is still quite mixed as regards the way it is farmed and managed, and there are lots of hedgerows and quite a few old buildings with suitable nest sites.  I quite often see barn owls at night, sometimes leading me along the lane as they fly along the hedges.  Sadly, a few are killed by vehicles because they so often hunt by flying low along, and of course at times across the lanes.

Yesterday though I saw one lift from a hedge top well into daylight hours, as I made my way along the road between Guilsfield and Arddleen, the back route to my place of work at Four Crosses, which I was taking because of very slow roadworks on the main road.  I was very grateful for that diversion, and quite startled by the paleness of the bird as I glimpsed it - looking, in a way, more like a huge moth than a bird, and remarkably white in colour.  I tend to think of barn owls as being of a buff to light brown, as regards wings and upper parts, but they do vary, and whiteness can be the dominant impact as you see one, so the Latin name of Tyto alba (white owl) is appropriate.  The wings are broad and enveloping, almost like a sort of shroud as the bird rides the hedgerows.  The tail is short and wedge-shaped, and the heart-shaped face, which is a very pure white, is quite distinctive, though that part of the owl wasn't visible to me as I drove by yesterday.

Just at the moment, I don't seem to have the time I'd like to go watching birds, so it's a double pleasure when these chance meetings occur!