The Company of Owls by Polly Atkin

4 out of 5 stars

The publisher provided a copy of this, free of charge, in return for an honest review.

I haven’t seen many owls, mostly because they tend to be fairly elusive and nocturnal. I have heard a few Tawny’s in the woods near home, but never been fortunate to catch sight of one.

But I have been lucky enough to see a handful of barn owls and two short-eared owls that are resident nearby. Atkin is the same, she has been hearing Tawny Owls whilst in her attic room in her house in the Lake District, but hasn’t seen any as yet.

It is thought that Tawny Owls are the most common of owl species, but nobody actually knows as they are so difficult to spot! Then one evening around the solstice, she sees a Tawny Owl. It is a magical time of the year, everything feels like it is turned up to 11, and this was quite a special moment.

In the spring of 2020, the world changed. Lockdown because of the COVID-19 virus meant that we were only permitted outside for exercise for one hour a day. The skies cleared of aircraft, and there were almost no cars on the roads. Nature began to claim back some of the spaces that we had dominated for so long. It was on one of these permitted exercises that she sees another Tawny Owl. It was to become a regular sighting on her and her partner’s walks.

Their walks start to take longer so they can enjoy seeing these birds, they notice the bird songs from others too, downloading an app to help them identify the songs.

Her three tips for seeing owls:

1. 1. Live near them
2. Walk around at different times
3. Pay attention.

They then spot two owlets, one sadly has fallen from a nest box, and they can see the other in the next box as it moves around. They then find a dead owl and she buries it in her garden and then worries as to whether there won’t be another to take over the territory. She needn’t have worried as there is another in the area come the next spring.

It feels like her heart is full of owls.

One of her fears when younger was being afraid of being in the dark. She needed a night light for a long time. She moved to London, and it was never dark there. However, moving to the Lake District was where she learnt to love the dark and all the creatures that inhabit the night.

Atkin is someone who needs space. She can spend time with people, but it takes mental energy that she doesn’t always have. Tawny’s are similar. They come together to raise a brood, but it affects them both and they need to be apart for the rest of the year.

She sees the owlets again. But there are three of them this time. She learns what they can do at that age, and it reminds her of her own limitations with the body that she has. She is often thought of as a night owl, being most lucid between 10 pm and 2 am. She stays in bed until late morning, which can make very early medical appointments a tough call.

As the owlets begin to fledge, they leave the nest book. Atkin has to look very carefully for them now, as they just disappear as they branch hop. It is a learning process, though, and she develops the skills to find other owls in her local area. It can be incredibly frustrating, though, as they are rarely in the same place each time, and that ability to vanish doesn’t help! They are becoming more independent, but will still snuggle together for security. It won’t be long before their parents drive them away to make their own way in the world.

I liked this book a lot. Her previous book concentrated on her chronic illness, but this feels more like a nature diary that has been transformed into narrative prose. The chapters are short and focused, concentrating on a moment that is important to her at that particular time. It reads very differently from other nature memoirs that I feel can be contrived. What comes across in this is her feeling of wonder for these beautiful birds and the empathy she has in wanting them the survive and thrive. Great stuff.