Plight of storm troopers
AN ELDERLY relative used to swear blind about encounters with ghostly apparitions on coach trips through the countryside. Hardly a clear winter’s night passed without him being confronted by an ethereal entity floating over a verge or sitting sentinel on a sprig, hollow, unblinking eyes staring emotionless.
Any attempt to explain these incidents as sightings of barn owls on the prowl were dismissed by the old boy, with scary-eyed warnings about the tormented soul of a 17th century highwaywoman roaming the byways of rural Hertfordshire.
Superstition and barn owls are entwined in folklore and literature with the same tautness as the barbs on velvety feathers that allow their silent flight.
Shakespeare was not shy in using owl symbolism to add mystery to his works and, right up until the 1950s, talk of dark powers led to the horrific persecution of a bird associated with storms and thunder.
Sadly, for barn owls it meant being nailed by the wings on barn doors to protect against lightning strikes.
Storms are proving a disastrous portent for owls once more.the winds and rains spewed by Ciara, Dennis and Jorge have pummelled these night-hunters and left them starved because they cannot catch their prey in bad weather.
There have been reports of exhausted barn owls being rescued weighing just 225g when they should weigh 620g.
“The number of barn owls picked up dead or in poor condition recently is a sign of poor weather conditions for them,” says Dr Hugh Hanmer, Project Owl coordinator at the British Trust for Ornithology.
“The relatively continual heavy rainfall and strong winds experienced nationally have made hunting for their small mammal prey more difficult while also increasing their energy requirements.
“Rain can easily soak a barn owl’s soft, not very waterproof feathers, reducing their flight efficiency and chilling them while also making it harder to hear their prey.
“Under normal circumstances, this means barn owls avoid hunting in such conditions but prolonged wet weather with few breaks such as we’ve had recently can force them to hunt, further putting them at risk.”
GCSE biology students asked for examples of “crepuscular” creatures have never needed to look further than barn owls for their answers.the twilight worlds of dawn and dusk are their favoured times for moth-like hunting sorties to capture voles, moles and mice.
Daylight sightings have become more frequent recently as owls become desperate to feed over areas that have not been flooded. While roadsides may harbour small mammals, heavy traffic flow puts the birds in peril.
Many have met their end in the vortex thrown up by a passing high-sided vehicle.
Yet ecologists are sanguine about the owl’s future, as Dr Hanmer says: “Barn owls have been a relative success story in recent years, thanks to a warming climate, conservation action through widespread provision of nest boxes and their naturally high breeding productivity.
“So hopefully, given a few good breeding seasons, and milder drier winters, they are likely to bounce back relatively quickly.”
‘Rain can soak owls’ feathers’
● Anyone picking up owls fitted with leg rings should report their findings to ring.ac