Driving home over the tops from Colne, along the old packhorse trail through Widdop, I spotted a handful of crows tucking into a squashed rabbit at the side of the road. They took flight as the car approached. The last to leave, I was astonished to see, wasn’t a crow after all, but a little owl.
I’ve seen little owls plenty of times in the middle of the afternoon before, but I had no idea they ate carrion. Come to think of it, though, why wouldn’t they?