Country diary: Storm Arwen battered the valley, but the barn owl survives

Allendale, Northumberland: It is small relief that, for all the damage done, the owl is still glidingIt was back in September at dusk, a time of uncertain light, that I thought I saw a white bird. In that fine autumn, there followed other evenings of gardening late, but it was several weeks before I saw it again. A barn owl flying low across the field, working the ground with efficiency as it quartered the long grass; I hadn't imagined it.The variety of habitats in the valley makes for good hunting, a mixture of wood pasture, tufty grasses and marsh. This rough land provides cover for small mammals and in particular field voles, a barn owl's main diet. Since that first time, the owl has become a regular, recorded in my notebook morning and evening, a pale floating shape, backlit as dawn comes over the hill, wings tinged apricot as the sun sets. Continue reading...