Tawny owls hooting all night in the clear moonlight. It reminded me of that true story about a bloke who practised imitating their call in order to get a response. Eventually, he stood outside at night and made the hooting noises. To his delight, he got the hoped-for response. He'd got the call down to a tee and convinced another owl to respond.


So he thought.


It took a few nights for the realisation to set in that a bird-loving neighbour, a couple of hundred yards away, had been doing the exact same thing....