NOW is a good time of year to see barn owls sweeping low over the countryside hunting for voles and mice.

This owl was photographed flying over Long Preston Deeps by Elizabeth Robertshaw.

The RSPB says barn owls are mainly nocturnal, but may hunt before dusk and around dawn when feeding young and in daylight in winter.

They mainly like to eat short-tailed voles, followed by wood mice and brown rats, although that does differ in different parts of the country.