Little Owl

I didn’t realise until I did a bit of reading that the Little Owl isn’t a native species but was introduced into the UK in the 19th century. They are now widespread across the country and with good eyesight and patience can be spotted almost anywhere. There are a couple of pairs I know of locally and have seen the young in past years. They feed during the day making them slightly easier to spot but when sat on a drystone wall their colouring blends them in making them almost invisible.

They swoop down from elevated perches to feed on insects and worms as well as small mammals and fledglings and will stash extra food in caches for later use. Carefully scour the walls around fields and you may be lucky enough to spot one although their population has fallen over recent years. I think one of my local pairs has a nest so hopefully there’ll be a few more popping out soon.