The long and short of owls in the woods

IN Lancashire we have several species of owl - the barn, little short-eared tawny and, probably the rarest in our county, the long-eared.

The long-eared owl lives in conifer woodlands and its diet consists mainly of small rodents, such as wood mice, voles and shrews. It will also eat small birds.

The word long-eared is a little bit misleading because the 'ear-like' feathers on the top of its head are used in display and have nothing to do with hearing.

All birds have openings to the ears but no flaps (called Pinnae), as mammals have.

The feathers around the ear region, however, do not have barbs on them to allow sounds to pass through more easily.

A few years ago, long-eared owls became very rare in East Lancashire and it is still the case.

Many of our local reservoirs, however, were surrounded by conifer plantations planted in the 1960s. These dark "forests" have provided a good habitat for the long-eared owl and also goldcrests and coal tits.

At one time, naturalists did not enter coniferous woods because "there was nowt in 'em." This is now not the case as my recent stroll into a conifer woodland proved beyond doubt.

Letter of the week

I READ your articles with interest. You wrote about the foxglove being called Witches Thimbles but 80 years ago my dad always said that the sea campion was called Witches Thimbles. Can you check it out?

Stan Yates, Woodland Place, Lower Darwen.

RON'S REPLY: I have looked up the old time names and have found three plants which were once called Witches Thimbles. These are the foxglove and the sea campion. I also found a third, which was the giant bellflower. I shall keep looking because there may be others and you can always rely on Evening Telegraph readers to come up with something new and fascinating.

Alert as 'cyanide' pest springs up

AS we move into August I have noticed lots of ragwort plants appearing in our local fields and hedgerows.

Farmers and those who keep horses need to get rid of ragwort because the plant contains poisons related to cyanide.

Animals that eat lots of ragwort get doses that build up in their tissues. There have been occasions when horses and cows have become ill after eating it and even the occasional fatality. Care does, therefore, need to be taken.

It is a pity that ragwort is so common and such a pest because if it was rare it would be regarded as quite pretty.

One insect which thrives on ragwort is the cinnabar moth. This is black and red but its caterpillars are black and yellow. Birds do not eat either caterpillars or adults and most scientists think that the cyanides in the body taste bitter and the birds have learned to avoid the poisons.

The message to landowners with regard to ragwort is simple - get rid of it!