Parliament Of Owls

They may be a rare sight in Britain but long-eared owls aren’t so shy and retiring elsewhere.

- Miriam Darlington

With its chameleonlike ability to meld perfectly into a background of bark and foliage, the long-eared owl is possibly one of the hardest to see in Britain. It is one of our most nocturnal and shy owls, and rare too – on average, there is thought to be around 3,500 breeding pairs here in summer. If you do spot one it might be the startling, orange-sapphire eyes that you’ll see first – its tall ear tufts (not true ears but soft, feathery protrusions) confirm the owl’s identity. So, with UK sightings usually few and far between, where’s the best place to see this elusive beauty? Luckily, I had had a tip-off.

“Serbia?” my husband Rick said. I could see him picturing landmines and armed police. But all that was out of date. “It’s okay,” I said. “It’s been safe to go there for years. I won’t be on my own. I’ll be in a group.”

The tip-off was from the 'Urban Birder’, David Lindo, who was leading the owl expedition. In previous years, Serbia has not had a good press but David said that it was now quite safe to visit – the people were friendly and actively welcomed ecotourism. David’s contact on the ground, Milan, was promoting bird-watching trips to help raise the profile of Serbian wildlife. He would be taking us to see the largest known gathering of long-eared owls in the world. ‘If you don’t see an owl on this trip, we will eat our binoculars!’ the website proclaims. There had been reports of 800 owls gathering in a single location. I was going to the owl capital of the world, to their international HQ – Kikinda.

Helping hand

“This is my Kikinda town,” quips David when we arrive. There were only two rules for the trip – ‘always look up’ and ‘don’t scare the owls’. Having agreed to these, we set off.