Anja Murray: The sounds of long-eared owls
Long-eared owl. "Being top predators, owls have both excellent hearing and sight. Long eared owls’ eyes are enormous and bright orange, piercing through their pale brown disk of facial feathers. They have a higher proportion of rods than cones in their retina, which allows them so see far better in the dark than day-flying birds or mammals such as ourselves. Their iris is able to open almost completely, allowing even the faintest bit of light to reach the photoreceptive rods in the retina."
Sounds set the scene of our surrounds, and provide evidence about what creatures are close by. On summer days, crickets’ rhythmic trilling stridulations let us know that the long grass is full of life. Swifts screech loudly overhead, alerting us to their presence as they sweep up flying insects from the skies above.
Distinctive calls are how we recognise what wild animals are going about their lives in parallel to ours, perhaps seeking out a mate, claiming nesting territory, or warning their peers about the presence of an intruder. As the summer rolls on, mating and territorial calls have abated. Instead, we hear juveniles calling out to their parents for food. I’ve been listening to a fledgling blackbird perching on the roof of the little garden shed, sheltered by overgrowing ivy. Every few minutes this endearing fluffy youngster chirps a gurgling call, and within moments, their parent is placing food in their gaping yellow beak.
