Can it rain on owls' parade?

Incessant rains have been a bane for owls this winter by leaving them cold and hungry, although not too wet to woo.

- With STUART WINTER

Downpours day and night force these skilled hunters to hunker down rather than risk drenching velvety wing feathers which are needed for silent sorties.

The raucous pitter-patter of cloudbursts also renders their super-acute hearing to detect the faintest sounds of scurrying rodents in total darkness ineffective.

How owls are suffering in one of the wettest winters on record came home to roost last week with a series of ghostly pleas echoing outside the bedroom window.

Thoughts of Cathy in Wuthering Heights came to mind.