BARN OWL

The barn owl Tyto alba is the most widely distributed owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds.
It can be seen during the day, but it is best seen at dusk when it is hunting for it's prey of mice, voles and shrews, it's staple diet.
It can be found almost anywhere in open country along field edges, riverbanks and road sides.
It is estimated that we have between 3,000 & 5,000 breeding pairs and the numbers can swell from 12,500 - 25,000 in the Winter.
This information was taken from RSPB data.

I do believe that the Barn owl is quite unique in that, because of the positioning of the facial disc it can detect the slightest sound making it possible to hunt in total darkness, unlike the rest of the owl family which do need light from the moon and stars.

My blip today is a piece of my art work I did some 30 years ago, it's what is known as a scraper board technique. White china clay is coated with indian ink and then, with a very fine scraping tool, the ink is scratched off to reveal the white clay beneath.
I have been going through some of my old art work recently, so, I could be blipping a lot more in the future.