Conquering my bogey bird

In recent years I’ve been quietly pursuing this bird, the Eastern Barn Owl.

Often regarded as a ‘boom and bust’ species the Eastern Barn Owl is relatively common in the district and can be found across the Moolort Plains and in wooded farmland areas. Its numbers fluctuate with those of its major prey, rodents.

Why then has it been my bogey bird?

I’ve observed it on a number of occasions, usually at night in the car headlights or sadly deceased on a country road … it hunts low to the ground and vehicle strike is a major threat to this beautiful owl. A few times a bird has departed from its roost before I could raise the camera.

Late yesterday afternoon, acting on a tip-off, I finally managed to photograph an Eastern Barn Owl. High up in a veteran Yellow Gum the bird emerged cautiously from a large hollow and basked for a few minutes in the fading winter sunshine. What a thrill!

Barn Owls are a cosmopolitan species, for a long time most forms were classified as Tyto alba, with separate races regarded as subspecies. Recent taxonomic studies have placed the Australian form as a distinct species, Tyto delicatula. Unlike the majority of Australian owls Barn Owls can breed continuously as long as food is abundant. The spot where I observed this bird was typical of an ideal breeding site, possibly one that has been in use for many years.

Eastern Barn Owl, Strangways, 16th July 2023

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The Barn Owl’s Yellow Gum … the roost is about half way up the left hand trunk.

Big shout out to Will for helping me finally exorcise the demon!