At last we have tawny owls in one of our owl nest boxes after a three-year wait. It has been very special to listen to the daytime gentle calls of the female in the box and the male in an ivy clad tree about 30 ft (10m) away. There was an attempt last year but squirrels ousted the owls after a pair of magpies and other smaller birds mobbed the owl quietly perched inside the box.

At night I often hear the two tawnies calling as they hunt for food and they were particularly vociferous during the mid-April period of sunny days and pleasant nights. Occasionally I scan the garden and adjoining woods with a red filtered torch to catch sight of them in the red glow.

Brown owl and wood owl are other common names for tawny owls. Strix aluco is the scientific name, strix, Latin for a screech owl, and alucus also Latin for a screech owl. The distribution of some bird species can seem very odd, the tawny owl being widespread in Europe, including the British Isles, yet a bird watching acquaintance who writes from Ireland has never seen one there. Yet it is found in parts of Asia as far as the Eastern Himalayas, and the northern part of Africa. Ireland is not known for woodpeckers either, nor snakes.

Tawny owls lay two to five white, slightly glossy eggs, with incubation by the female, from the first egg, taking 28 to 30 days. Fledging, with the male bringing food, takes about five weeks but young may leave nest earlier. There is just the one brood.