I think our locality might have acquired a pair of tawny owls.
Because there's often a barn owl around quite often, we probably have a pair in the vicinity. Our neighbours have a sitting room with a nice view of the back field and seem to see one fairly frequently; we only see one occasionally. We sometimes hear one at night - it's a noise like a demon vengefully killing something, possibly designed to strike the fear of owl into the heart of small rodents, and not exactly restful.
About a week ago I was lying in bed one chilly evening waiting to fall asleep and thought I heard that wavering 'WoOOOooohOOOooo'. So I got out of bed, opened the window and listened. Lots of wooohooo-ing from a distance away. Very nice and much enjoyed. Went back to bed, fell asleep.
Then last night (or possibly crack-of-dawn o'clock, I fell asleep afterwards and can't remember which it was) there were a couple of distant wooohooos. And then, very close and very loud - from our roof , 'T'wick! T'WICK! T'WICK!' This was repeated several times, but I didn't hear any woohoos in return.
I hope they stay and aren't just passing through. I love the woohoo part of their call. I used to walk the dogs before work in the pre-dawn of the winter, and my route took me along below the crest of a hill that had a small wood at one end, a copse at the other and some big old trees (several oaks, a chestnut) along the hedgeline in between. The sky would be either black, or a deep inky blue as the light crept slowly up, and the tawnies would often be calling from the trees. There was something magical about it that made it worthwhile to turn out at 6.15 into whatever weather the winter was presenting us with.