On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 19:03:57 +0000, sacha wrote:

They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?

What a coincidence! Whilst we frequently hear them calling and
answering during the evening, a male woke me up at 6 this morning with
a series of very loud/close calls.

A couple of weeks ago some unusually penetrating calls alerted us to
the presence of a male perched on top of our bird feeder pole.

From memory it is only the male that makes the familiar hooting call
whereas the female makes a noticeably simpler and shorter sound.
--
rbel