Owl ambush

The resident Southern Boobook Owls are about the place again. This is good as it's early spring and they've nested here before. We're hoping they will again, particularly since their favourite foods are rats and mice and owls eating a few of those would be really useful right now.


What is not so good sometimes is their utter, complete silence. They surprise you in the garden constantly, especially at dawn and dusk. This one is sitting on a barbeque we've covered with an old tablecloth for the winter. Her eyes are mesmerising and you tend to look into those when they fix you with that perfectly focussed stare, but what rodents probably notice more is her perfect manicure. Hopefully just before they're grasped in it.