THIS Saturday it will be Owl Awareness Day. And what better to mark the day than with the news that hidden in the hills and dales of Yorkshire there are eagle owls.

These mighty birds are here after an absence that stretches back thousands of years.

There are fossil records of eagle owls in Britain dating back 700,000 years, but these stop about 10,000 years ago and no one is sure whether these latest owls, of which there are estimated to be only 50 pairs in the country, are captive birds that have escaped into the wild or whether they have migrated here from Europe.

However they got here, they are impressive. The females are larger than the males and stand at 2½ft tall. This makes them one of the biggest owls in the world. They can way 4kgs – six times heavier than tawny owls.

The sheer size and force of an eagle owl is formidable. It can kill a fox or small deer and I’ve even heard of one swallowing a hedgehog whole. Even its scientific name, bubo bubo, has the sound of a heavyweight.

Recently I heard of a wild eagle owl living in the northernmost tip of Yorkshire. I have been asked to keep its location secret in order to protect it.

This owl was reportedly highly territorial and had taken umbrage against walkers, runners and climbers that ventured onto its patch. Unfortunately it had chosen a popular tourist hotspot in which to settle.

My family joined me on my expedition to find it. At the location, I noticed white chalky poo streaking a rock face. This is the tell-tale sign of an owl’s presence. Caught in the crevices below were feathers.

Then I spotted a huge owl pellet, four inches long. Inside it was a rat skull encased in fur and the remains of rabbit.

I spotted a similar rock face on the leeward side of the outcrop. As I approached I heard a deep resonant hooting: “ooh-hu”, “ooh-hu”.

Nearby was a ledge streaked with owl poo. I focused my camera, hoping the owl would land here.

My family huddled down in the bracken alongside me. I passed them a twiggy branch. If the bird flies at you, I explained, hold this up in front of you.

I then mimicked the sound of the eagle owl call so that my daughters would know what to listen for. With an audio frequency of 250 to 350 Hertz, the sound is deeper and carries farther than the territorial songs of all other large owls.

To my surprise the owl called back. Then, like a winged giant, it appeared from behind a rocky outcrop and landed just where I hoped it would.

We fell silent as we took in the incredible bird. It had huge feet, each the size of a man’s hand and covered in feathers. You could see its shiny black talons as it gripped the rock. Its steps were slow and deliberate - more like those of a lynx than a bird.

The owl called again causing its feathers to puff out and reveal a prominent white patch at its throat. Its huge bright orange eyes shone in the late afternoon sunlight.

Two fighter jets roared overhead and it hunkered down momentarily, tightening its feathers to its body. But it soon relaxed and began preening.

After an hour it took off. Its huge wings beating softly as it glided around the rock face towards a spindly larch tree on the edge of a forest. When it landed, I was surprised how camouflaged it was. Despite its huge size, it was barely visible.

My parting shot was of the eagle owl silhouetted on top of a boulder with the sun setting in the background.

Eagle owls survive high in the Alps or the Himalayan highlands. It seemed incongruous to have spent the day with one on a little rocky hillside in Yorkshire.