27. The Guardian

The uncultivated pastures, during the spring, dress up with their most precious clothes, woven with thistle thorns and asphodel arabesques. The margins of the fields, often delimited by borders of Mediterranean scrub and undeveloped woodland, host an astonishing biodiversity. Insects, spiders, reptiles, small passerines and micromammals depend on the conservation of these ecosystems, which are too often underestimated. These border environments, defined as ecotonal, are the realm of nocturnal birds of prey, which find the perfect hunting ground when the sun goes down. A pile of stones is enough to host a pair of owls, the little queens of darkness, which from spring to autumn, the period of greatest activity, make the night more lively and fascinating. The Sardinian name Cucumiau is an onomatopoeia due to a particular type of song that recalls the meow of a cat. It may happen to see the owls from the edge of a farm road, even during the day, on top of their stone castle, like silent guardians who contemplate their kingdom and wait for the sun to hide beyond the horizon.

Coordinates of the photographed site: 40°26'25"N 9°34'47"E