Western barn owl

A pale shape drifting low over rough grass as the light goes is the classic barn owl sighting. Look over farmland and grassy field margins, especially at dawn and dusk, and scan fence posts, where they often perch. Bring your ears too. A barn owl screeches and hisses rather than hoots, and in summer the owlets in the nest keep up long food-begging calls, a hissing, snore-like sound that can drift out of an old barn or nest box after dark. Watch from a gate or lane rather than walking toward a nest site, and let the bird decide how close it comes.