In search of barn owls

Tuesday’s evening walk began in Netherton first school, with the amusing sight of about 30 adults “perched” on seats designed for smaller bottoms. Russell, head National Park Ranger in the North, began by giving us an insight into the barn-owl project which had been encouraging and monitoring the spread of barn owls firstly in the Coquet valley, and latterly in the Rede and Ingram valleys. For more on the project have a look at the National Park website.

I had been keenly watching the progress of this project from the comfort of my office, which I share with the estate officer, Colin, who is heavily involved in getting webcams inside some of the owl boxes. This season has had its teething troubles but we have still managed to watch some interesting owl behaviour!

Another good site for live action is that of the Barn Owl Trust. Their cameras can be found here.

The walk proper took us from Netherton via Elilaw to Biddlleston, returning by the lonnen – a wonderful circular route of just under 5 miles. On the way we were invited inside a barn. Some of us caught a glimpse of a barn-owl inside, but most did not. Never mind. We picked up another walker at this point, as we were joined by Sam the labrador who followed us for the next three miles before one of the walks volunteers took him back home.

A very pleasant evening walk in the late sunshine, and then as the light dropped it was prime time to see the owls. Unfortunately they did not come out to play, so instead we enjoyed watching the hares running around the fields

The non-appearance of the owls gives us a reason to come back and do the walk again – perhaps the numbers of people had scared the owls off and we will have more luck on our own. And when we do revisit I’ll make sure there is time to visit the legendary Star in Netherton, which has appeared in every edition of CAMRA’s good beer guide!

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