Afternoons with a bow or a bird
in Scotland.

A barn owl flies almost without a sound, because a row of tiny hooks on the front edge of its wing deadens the rush of the air.

Its feathers are unusually soft too, and its wings are large for such a light body, so it can drift low over rough grassland and hear the smallest rustle of a small mammal below. The heart-shaped face gathers sound towards its ears, and barn owls have been shown to catch prey in total darkness by hearing alone. The price is that their feathers are not very waterproof, so a barn owl rarely hunts in the rain. In Scotland the Scottish Wildlife Trust's reserves at Largiebaan and Bemersyde Moss are good places to look for one.