The barn owl

I went for a walk down to the marshes this morning.For those of you who have not read my blog before,I should explain that I live on the Wirral Peninsula in the north west of England and live near the Dee Estuary, a prime location for bird watching.My intention was to see the geese of which there are dozens on the marshes at present,both Canada geese and greylags.However, my attention was diverted from the geese when I sighted a barn owl! This is a large white bird with a white underside and gold/grey/grey on it's upper parts. It has a heart shaped face and small black eyes.It is also known as the screech owl, due to it's distinctive call.The barn owl had become increasingly rare here on the Wirral but thankfully is now on the increase again, with I have been told about 40 nesting pairs here on the Wirral. I was very pleased to see the owl and was told that it has a nest somewhere in the vicinity with 5 chicks in it, which surely must be good news for barn owls and those of us who like myself, love to see this lovely bird.A lot of the credit for the increase in the barn owl population must go to the Wirral Barn Owl Trust, who locate and monitor breeding pairs,collect and collate reported sightings,liase with farmers in the area and provide nesting boxes in suitable area where there may be a shortage of natural nesting sites. To sum up, I would have been quite happy just seeing the geese but seeing the barn owl was a definite bonus!