So many mornings I have been down to Bere Marsh very early and most times I have had a quick glimpse of the Barn Owl. Just going into roost or flying alongside the hedge, the other side to me of course, or perched in a tree some distance away.

On the 25th June on my early morning walk around 5.30am I decided to head for Bere Marsh again. The hay had been cut the previous day both in the Bere Marsh fields and the Child Okeford side of the Stour so I was thinking perhaps the Owl might change his usual pattern that day and I wasn’t sure where he would be. I passed his roost on the way up the Trailway and looking back you can just see inside the barn without disturbing the bird and I could see an Owl on the rafters, I thought perhaps that was it and he was back home for the day.

I carried on with my walk with Tilly and then returned the same way as I was crossing the footpath to the bridge I spotted something in the tree by the barn, it is some distance away from the footpath but I like to think my eyesight is pretty good! I realised it was the Barn Owl and I hoped he was out to do another swoop of the fields and sure enough that’s what happened. I stood on the bridge and watched him cross Millham island and the field to where there was still a corner of tall grasses, within seconds he was down, I waited a little while and up he came with a Vole. By this time Tilly and I were hidden behind a rather large Dock plant at the other side of the field, right in the line for him to return to the Barn. It was a really great experience as he flew towards us, he never saw us and carried on back to the roost, what a lucky encounter, my patience paid off!