Tuning into wildlife can be quite a hoot!

A Dunnock in full song

As far back as I can remember, I have always had an ear sub-consciously tuned into the sounds of wildlife.  It does not seem to matter what I am doing – I might be in a meeting, reading the Sunday papers or in full conversation with someone, when an alarm call or snippet of song will override everything and burst into my conscience!  Some of my friends (so called!) say that this happens to me because my ears stick out at right angles – giving me one of the many nicknames I had at school of “world cup”!!

Alarm calls in particular, are very useful to pick up, as they give me time to turn and glimpse the little male Sparrowhawk as it twists and turns through the trees or the Red Kite gliding over the fields behind me, which I would have undoubtedly missed if the calls had not made me aware.

At this time of year, it is the winter flocks of small birds, usually made up of mixed tit species, with the odd Goldcrest thrown in for good measure, that create a sudden high pitched din of various alarm calls, seemingly well before the predator appears – one of the advantages of being part of a group with numerous eyes all on the lookout for danger.

In the summer months the alarm system seems to be handed over to the Swallows and Martins, who literally have a bird’s eye view of what is lurking in the shadows. I have often thought that predators such as the Sparrowhawk must dread the return of these summer visitors, as one short alarm call from above, sends every small bird below hurtling to the safety of some thick, impenetrable cover.

The nights so far this autumn and the early part of winter, have been filled with the hoots and woos of Tawny owls. They are trying to kick out the youngsters and set up new territories, (I have some sympathy with Tawnies on this front!) but what a racket it has been this year! Although the noise goes on all night, they gather together in the large Oak outside my bedroom window as the very first glimmers of the new day appear, to have one final set to – so there has been no need to set the alarm clock for what seems like months!!

As the hootathon dies down, a little Dunnock, which roosts every night in the honeysuckle directly  beneath the open bedroom window takes over, with a short and at first, rather muted little burst of song, as though it is not quite sure if singing is allowed while it is still so dark. But it soon ups the volume as it is joined by the local Robin and from this morning, the Song thrush.

I had a meeting at the Hampshire Wildlife Trust offices yesterday and as I arrived in their car park and opened the car door, I was greeted by the drifting notes of a distant Mistle thrush, singing from the very top of a Beech tree – such an evocative spring sound. Even though 2013 has a few more weeks to run, already plans are under way for next year’s breeding season. Now that is a comforting thought!       

Tawny owls have been particularly noisy this autumn

13 is unlucky for the wise Barn owl.

A hunting Barn owl

2013 appears to have been the poorest breeding season for barn owls in Britain since 1958. This year's round of 73 Annual Monitoring Site visits by the Barn Owl Trust has now revealed the extent of the devastation. On average nesting occurs at 51% of sites, this year's figure is a mere 12% and 47% of nest sites are completely unoccupied. At the 12% of sites where pairs have managed to survive and breed, the average number of young in the nest is just two rather than the four or five that are needed for population recovery.

This national scenario was played out near to where I live in Hampshire, when a neighbouring farmer found a Barn owl back in June, lying dead on a clutch of eggs in one of the nest boxes he had put up specifically for it. The very late cold spring, lack of small mammals and the huge effort of egg laying, had all been too much for this particular female.

A few regions of eastern England did buck the trend however, with between one and two-thirds of traditional nest sites producing young with average broods of between three and five.

This is a real setback for a breeding population which, since the turn of the century has probably risen from around 4500 pairs to nearer 8000 pairs in Britain, maybe more. The BTO’s Breeding Bird Survey - which records the population trends of UK's breeding birds, supports this increase in numbers. It reports an almost three-fold increase between 1995 and 2012, whilst data from its new Bird Atlas suggests that this bird has also seen an almost 70% increase in range expansion in Britain since the Barn Owl Survey of Britain and Ireland in 1987.

With the enormous abundance of food in the form of berries, nuts and fruits this autumn, I imagine that many small mammals will fare well over-winter and may be in good numbers come next year. If the British weather can resist from showing off all its extremes in 2014, and just deliver an average year , then hopefully the delightful Barn owl will bounce straight back with a good breeding season, and continue its recent success story.