Barn Owl

Alice Huntley

Look for me at dusk,
feather-glow in slanting sun,
pulling silence across the land,
face a heart-shaped disc
turned towards the earth,
tuned to secret symphony,
pump of blood in tiny veins -
scurry, scuttle, scuff.

Find me in fields fallowed
to the point of remembrance,
in rough-and-tumble mess.
Where I hunt, life is always whole
both life above and life below,
hidden in runnels of tuft and tussock,
fed on berry, beetle, root.

Read my surveys of the land
in crumpled balls spat out
like pages torn from field guide,
an almanac of creatures
you forgot, but I do not.

The Science

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. This is an ecological poem inspired by recent research on impact of agri-environment schemes that permit the growth of long grass sward on the population and diet of barn owls, Tyto Alba. Barn Owls are capable hunters. Their facial discs magnify sound and their wing characteristics permit silent flight. Like other birds of prey, they play a critical role in balancing out numbers of creatures within ecosystems. They only survive where food is plentiful for themselves and their prey, which they consume whole, coughing out inedible parts (beaks, bones, wings) in tightly-packed pellets. Barn Owls mostly eat voles, mice, and shrews but over 100 different kinds of creatures have been found in their pellets. Ecologists can use these pellets to understand local fauna biodiversity, and provide evidence for the positive impact of natural restoration activity. This poem imagines Barn Owls as ‘field guides’ that help us ‘remember’ what functioning natural ecosystems are like.

The Poet

Alice Huntley is a musician and poet with an MA in Chinese Studies and has spent her working life understanding how to communicate ideas to people.  She now works as a systems change communicator working towards narrative change on environmental issues and is a trained rewilder. She is part of a community woodland restoration project in Teign Valley, Devon. Her poetry has been widely published, in Mslexia, Ink Sweat & Tears, London Grip and The Pennine Platform amongst others. Find out more about Alice’s work at www.futurebetter.co

Next poem: Before he flew off by J.I. Kleinberg