A Local Transformation

 

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   The Owlet

Madison Julius Cawain

  When dusk is drowned in drowsy dreams,
    And slow the hues of sunset die;
    When firefly and moth go by,
    And in still streams the new moon seems
    Another moon and sky:
    Then from the hills there comes a cry,
    The owlet's cry:
    A shivering voice that sobs and screams,
    With terror screams:
    "Who is it, who is it, who-o-o?
    Who rides through the dusk and dew,
    With a pair of horns,
    As thin as thorns,
    And face a bubble-blue?
    Who, who, who!
    Who is it, who is it, who-o-o?" 

We are so lucky to live near Cromwell Bottom Local Nature Reserve. It's in the Calder Valley between Brighouse and Elland, next to the Calder and Hebble Navigation and the River Calder runs through it.

In the past, the site has been a quarry, a tip for ash from the old Elland power station and a landfill site. Now it is a mix of woodland, wetlands and grasslands and is rich in plants and wildlife.

Today the Cromwell Bottom wildlife Group held an open day and it was great to see so many families enjoying the activities. 

Volunteer Dave took us on a guided walk through part of the reserve not normally open to the public, but the site of several development projects and an area used to teach schoolchildren, college students and people with learning difficulties and mental health issues. 

Of particular interest, and one of the reserve's success stories, was the barn owl project. In 2019, when a barn owl box was positioned, volunteers thought it might take 18 months for birds to take up residency; in fact it took three weeks. Since then the owls have regularly returned and youngsters have fledged, including two this year. Dave hears them calling to their parents in the evening, wanting to be fed.

The whole reserve is a small miracle of nature, having been transformed from an industrial site to a beautiful habitat for deer, foxes, small mammals, birds (including a heronry), insects, butterflies and moths. All manner of creatures were being discovered today by children pond dipping.

Writing prompt:

• What small miracles have you witnessed today? Write about them for six minutes.
• Do you know somewhere that has been transformed? Perhaps a disused railway track, a garden or even a room in a house? Write about what it was like before and what it is like now.
• If you could be transformed, what would you become? Write about it.
  
• Recall a time when you have observed with wonder something in nature - perhaps a tree, flower, animal, bird or insect. Describe it using all your senses.