Opening the driveway gate 20 minutes before sunrise, I glanced uphill and spotted a hovering barn owl silhouetted against the dawn. It was about 200 metres away, at the end of the Farm’s bottom field. It plunged feet first behind the drystone wall, then rose again a few seconds later: a missed strike. It then zig-zagged back and forth, about three or four metres above the field, pausing twice to hover before making a second unsuccessful strike. Then it headed off in the general direction of the farm buildings.
07:40 on a Monday morning. Not a bad start to the week!
