Owls

I heve previously written on this blog about how much I like to hear the Owls at night. The soothing ‘Towit-Towoo’ as they call to each other, and even the occasional scream of a Screech-Owl that might disturb my sleep.

For a long time now, I haven’t heard them. I thought that we had ‘lost’ out local Owls, and I missed my nocturnal delight.

Then I stayed up late last night, watching something that interested me on TV. I didn’t go to bed until 01:15, very late for me these days.

As I settled down to sleep, I heard a ‘Towit’, followed quickly by a ‘Towoo’. Then more joined in, until it was a veritable chorus of calling Owls.

That pleased me a great deal, It really did.

I went to bed just before midnight last night. It was quiet in Beetley of course, it almost always is. Rare to hear a car pass by after ten, and save the occasional dog bark, you can usually be assured of a noise-free night.

But last night, there was something different, and it took me some time to realise what that was.

It wasn’t raining. There was no sound of relentless rain smacking against the windows like bow waves over a small ship at sea. No endless pattering of falling rain on the flat roof of the extension or the garden furniture, sounding as if five hundred typists were hammering at their machines right outside the bedroom window. After weeks of constant rain disturbing my sleep, the prospect of a rain-free night had me lying in bed smiling.

As I settled down in the dark, two owls began to call to each other. One was close, probably in the oak tree at the front. The second much more distant, perhaps over on Beetley Meadows. It was a pleasant sound, and became soothing after a while.

Given the choice, I would sleep with the owls, rather than the rain.