What A Treat

Whilst crop walking on Thursday I was treated to a very close up view of a Barn Owl adjacent to one of the farm tracks. It seems that the numbers of birds of prey are actually increasing. Is this due to the improved habitat that farmers are putting down? Grass margins planted for nesting birds are providing food and habitat for small mammals which in turn provide a feed source for birds and mammals higher up the food chain. Could there ever be a point in time when we will need to control some species of raptor? Now that would be a debate hotter than badgers and TB!