BIRDWATCH

Compared with the rest of Europe we British are rather owl-poor.

There are 13 species of owls on the continent, while there are only five species commonly seen in England, Scotland and Wales.

These are tawny, barn, long-eared, short-eared and little. The first four are native, and little owls were introduced to Britain in the latter half of the 19th century.

Ireland fares even worse and has only three; it has no tawnies, and little owls were never introduced there.

Occasionally, snowy owls reach the northern half of Britain (and famously bred on Fetlar during the late-1960s and early '70s), and there are now eagle owls, presumably escaped falconers' birds, present in a few locations around the country.

The owl we talk about most here at Pulborough Brooks is the barn owl '“ not surprising really, when they often breed in the Visitor Centre's roof '“ but the bird that has attracted most attention on sunny mornings recently is a little owl, Athene noctua.

This particular bird has been seen out in the middle of the day, sunning itself on a fence post near the visitor centre.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette October 31