Fleeting moment with an enigmatic owl

Long-eared Owl (Tony Pope)

Last week, I was surprised and delighted to see a Long-eared Owl flap slowly and silently between conifers in a North Wales plantation. The view lasted only a few seconds, but as these are rarely seen in summer in Wales, especially during daylight, it remains seared on my mind: the warm orange wing patches looked pale against the dark Sitka spruce.

It made an impression on our Palaeolithic ancestors too, for a Long-eared Owl is the oldest bird portrayed by humans. An engraving in the Chauvet cave in southern France has been dated at 30,000 years old; although other experts contest it may be an Eagle Owl.

Nesting in old crow nests, only a handful are recorded in North Wales each year. It’s assumed under-recorded, yet a co-ordinated effort a few years ago failed to elicit responses to calls played from speakers after dark in late winter.

Cool, showery conditions that have dominated May have slowed breeding activity among some birds, and delayed the arrival of others. Observatories on the Channel coast reported pulses of migration during the week, including large numbers of Swallows and smaller numbers of Reed Warblers and Spotted Flycatchers. These may be heading farther into northern Europe but indicates that there is still time for Swifts and House Martins to arrive, two species that people have reported absent from usual nest sites by mid-May. Terns at some of the region’s colonies have also been slow to settle, though at least one Roseate Tern was at Cemlyn during the week, with one or more hybrids alongside many hundreds of Sandwich Terns.

Other highlights last week were four Dotterels on Foel Grach in the Carneddau, Pomarine Skuas passed Bardsey and the Great Orme, a Little Gull at Porthmadog’s Llyn Bach and a Golden Oriole was reported from Foryd Bay.