Surely it will be quite dark if and when the owl appears ?
Some owls start to patrol before dusk, and I sometimes spot them (and in the case of the barn owls, often hear them call) when I am out with the dog.
It was about 9pm when my wife spotted one the other night, still about an hour and a half before it starts to get dark round here (in Scotland) at this time of the year. I didn't see it, but I suspect it might have been a short eared owl.
short eared owl. In the unlikely event that I get a picture, I will know for sure.
There was evidence of several streaks of what I took to be "owl pooh" on the fence post. (I didn't check carefully for pellets on the ground though, but I have seen one or two elsewhere), so I suspect it lands there regularly on its nightly rounds. The post in question is a good vantage point to look down on the adjacent field.
