by AJB Temple » 19 Jan 2021, 14:52
I agree. My moaning was tongue in cheek when I started this thread.
The tawny owl is in fact a pair we have realised. The male, who makes most of the noise, has three regular perches in the garden. We have a dead cherry tree in a tiny woodland part and this overhangs the leaf mould pen (which is about 7m by 2m as we have a lot of leaves each winter) and this appears to be a food supply spot. We know we have a lot of voles and other small rodents in this small area of surrounding land, and within the heap I expect, as I always let the grass grow long during summer, apart from a couple of paths through (one of which goes to my workshop) but when I mow it all down at the end of the year, it is not uncommon to see dozens and dozens of voles and mice dashing for cover. I built some tall mud banks a few years ago when we first moved here and I dug out the ponds. These are now planted with hostas, ferns and such like, plus a hornbeam hedge along the top, and there are lots of little burrows which I presume is where the animals live.
My wife wants to try to rig up a camera. Will have to look into it. There is no light as it is pitch black here at night under the trees.
Don't like: wood, engines, electrickery, decorating, tiling, laying stone, plumbing, gardening or any kind of DIY. Not wild about spiders either.