Nature Diary... A Visiting Tawny Owl

The day started very early this morning when, at 6am, I heard a Tawny Owl hooting loudly in a big tree just outside the bedroom window. I scrambled out of bed and made my way in the dark over to the window and stood looking out at a very dark scene. The only thing visible was the darkness of the big tree against the very gentle lightening of the dark sky. I could hear the owl hooting perhaps no more than10 feet away and I just stood and listened for several minutes absolutely delighted at the nearness of the bird. Then, as the sky lightened very slightly in the approaching dawn, the magnificent bird launched himself from the top of the big tree, almost as though he sensed/saw I was looking directly at him from behind the dark bedroom window, and silently and oh so gracefully he glided right across the entire width of our garden and out towards the nearby hills. All I saw of him was a dark shape flying against the gradual lightening of the night sky but that, and hearing him hoot for so long, delighted me for the rest of the day.
I was unable to photograph the actual scene so I present here my 'artist's impression' for you to enjoy and for me to remember  :-)