Exploring Pigeon Valley: The Spotted Eagle-Owl

This is the 52nd in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article will be on the Spotted Eagle-Owl.

My friend phoned me the other evening as he walked in Princess Alice Avenue – he had caught sight of an owl in a tree. While we confirmed that it was indeed there, it was only this past weekend that I got a good view. A group of us followed the call of agitated birds to a tree in the reserve where this beautiful Spotted Eagle-Owl was perched.

In parts of the country but perhaps less in Durban, this owl has adapted well to suburbia. It plays a very valuable role there, bringing rodents under control. A combination of house snakes and owls would do wonders. The great danger of course is that people put out poison instead; the owl eats a rat that has been poisoned and is killed. One of my saddest moments at Pigeon Valley was seeing a young owl next to the reserve that seemed ill and then finding its body later that day, very likely from this cause.

ALSO READ: Exploring Pigeon Valley: Dragonflies and damselflies

I know that there are beliefs that owls bring bad luck – or perhaps that their presence tells one that something bad is about to happen. Someone came late to the house and told me, in ominous terms, that he had seen an owl perched on my roof. The voice of doom was clearly related to the presence of my aged mother and aunt, who were very frail. In reality, they thrived.

Owls are masters of night-time detection and what was discovered is that the design of their wings is highly effective in muffling sound, so that the prey is not alerted by the whoosh of wings in the area. The sound that does bring happiness to my heart is the hooting at night.

Crispin Hemson chairs the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a group that undertakes clearing of alien plants, keeps records of bird and mammal sightings and alerts management to any problems.

The Friends have a monthly walk at 7.30am on the second Saturday of each month. Email: friendsofpigeonvalley1@gmail.com.

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