Prowling for Owls

What are all these people doing in the woods at night?

This was one of the four nights we hosted cub packs from Bradley Stoke Cubs on an owl prowl, led by Ian Mcguire of 'Wild Owl'.

Ian imitated the owl calls and played recordings of them so that the owls responded, looking to see who was trespassing on their territory.  When they flew over us Ian shone his very powerful flashlight and we could see the bird flying to a new perch in a nearby tree.

He also told us a lot about British owls at various stops round the woods.  It was quite exciting walking round quietly in the darkened woods.   Ian says that keeping some of our grassland long encourages voles and that's what the owls like to eat.

And here is a five minute video about tawny owls by Ian McGuire, our guide on the night(s).  If you don't want to listen to it all, the calls we heard are featured at the beginning.