Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)
10/04/12

We just decided to go for a walk after our tea. I said to dad to take his camera but he said he was not going to because whenever we have not got the camera we always end up seeing something good.

We walked for a bit and could hear some Blackbirds making a fuss on the edge of a wood. Then my brother heard a Tawny Owl call. We stayed still and then we heard it call again. We walked towards the wood and saw a quick flash of a brown owl flying close to the ground in between the trees. We were all excited because we had never seen a Tawny Owl before. We walked on a bit further and heard it call again and my dad spotted it perching in a tree. We were really close to the owl and had a great view, we could see it blinking and looking at us, even without binnoculars.

They are really beautiful birds but can be quite dangerous. A famous wildlife cameraman called Eric Hoskings was once taking photos of a Tawny Owl which then attacked him and blinded him in one eye. The Owl probably thought he was going to hurt its chicks in the nest and was just protecting its young.