Barn owl over Teifi Marshes

I was very excited to hear from the Welsh Wildlife Centre at Cilgerran that three barn owl chicks have successfully fledged at Teifi Marshes this summer.  They have stayed on the reserve, feeding over the meadows and reedbeds. The Teifi Ringing Group managed to ring and photograph the chicks (under license) and will continue to monitor them. I wrote this poem a couple of years ago when I used to watch a solitary barn owl frequently fly over the marshes at dusk. I am so pleased there is now a family of them here.

Barn owl over Teifi marshes                                

I am white air

sailing over meadow

shadowless over reed beds

 

I lighten dusk

float in circles

fly-swoop for prey.

 

And someone waits among bare trees

I fly towards her, straight and level

face to face

 

eye to eye as I pass

nothing to concern

I flow on,  feathered mist

 

dissolving into twilight

and I turn my attention

again to night business