Slow Owling!! - 1st to 20th May, 2013

So far this month, I've had a fairly abysmal month for owling, partly due to poor health and even worse weather, but also due to the fact that this is not the easiest time of year to see owls. The leaves are on the trees and lush, the female owls are (hopefully!) sitting on eggs or tending young, and the males are keeping out of the way, bracing themselves for some frantic feeding duties soon.

On 2nd May I was out with my pal Titus. Little Owls were seen at three sites, but not a single photo resulted! The first was a surprise find (the actual nest hole of my Site No.40) with the owl departing as soon as our eyes met, and the second two were at known sites by the light of my headlamps as we passed.

At my Little Owl Site No.18, I set up my hide in the evening of 5th May and waited for the male owl to appear. It didn't do so until 20:07, after the light had gone, and at a slightly different position from where my camera was pointing (I use a tripod in my hide). It was not even there for a second before departing - before I'd time to move the camera. Knowing it would be watching the hide I sat there, and it returned 15 minutes later, by which time the light was worse. however, I did manage to move the camera and get off a few images before it flew to the nest hole and disappeared inside. The second image shows it about to depart.

Little Owl - my Site No.18

I returned here on 19th May, but the owl didn't show until 21.10, when it was starting to get quite dark. This time my lens was pointing at its emergence point but I failed to activate the shutter in time - its departure was instant! However, it was exactly 15 minutes again before it returned, having spent some time calling from a nearby tree. This time, however, it flew back to the nest aperture, and stayed for about four seconds before diving into the nest hole. Sadly, at this time, the light was hopeless. The following were taken at 1/25th second at ISO 1,250, with a -1.0 step compensation to stop the camera trying to over-compensate for the lack of light. The first of the next two images is pretty much as taken (just a bit of noise reduction and sharpening), and reflects the scene much as it was. The second has been lightened and the white-balance adjusted dramatically, but probably gives a better image (although both are 'soft' focussed and greatly inferior to the first two images). I'm not sure which I prefer.

Little Owl - my Site No.18

You can tell how dark it was by the size of the owl's pupils!

My local patch is continuing to be difficult due to the cattle which the farmer gives a wide range of freedom to - up to three interconnecting fields with gates left open. I have had several messages of encouragement with regard to the safety of cattle, but only last week there was another report of a person being trampled to death whilst out walking with a friend. My Site No.02 presents no problems as it is located in arable land, but my sites Nos. 11 and 30 are a bit hazardous. On 16th May one of the owls was out on the roof at Site No.02.

Little Owl - my site No.02

No cattle were in sight when I came to cross the field to get to Site No.11, but no owl was seen there. I then set off for site No.30 and was about to go through the open gate and enter the field with the nest tree in when I found the herd just a few metres from the tree! I did a quick passage through a nearby closed gate into an arable field and managed to get to a position where I could just about detect an owl through the bins. It is (just) visible in the following image, but you might not spot it (I suspect my mate Paul Riddle will see it instantly, however!).

Little Owl (it is visible- just!) - my Site No.30

Before anyone tries to find this site, I should point out that it is nowhere near public access and the farmer is not beyond taking drastic action against trespassers - yes, I do have permission!

There have been a few other owl sightings, but none have resulted in any usable photos, other than on 9th May, when Titus and I were on our way to a turn of duty on the Rutland Osprey Project on a dull and windy day, and I found a Little Owl sheltering from the wind in the ivy at my Site No.21.

Little Owl - my Site No.21

Due to other commitments, I'm unlikely to get much more owling in this month, so I might be a bit quiet for a while. Here's hoping June brings better fortunes!

Great Spotted Woodpecker - May, 2013

Last year, for a month or so, we had a juvenile female Great Spotted Woodpecker visiting our garden on a 'several times a day' basis. We don't see woodpeckers very often in our garden, so this was quite exciting for us. Suddenly she was gone, and we feared the worst.

I can now say, with absolute confidence, that she is back! This is based on behaviour and preferred food. Unlike most GS Woodpeckers, which have a preference for peanuts, this bird (as good as exclusively) likes to feed from the fat balls - only once have we seen her briefly try the offerings of the sunflower heart tray. Also, her approach to the fat balls is virtually always the same. She lands on a particular section of our back fence, surveys the scene, flies to the base of a silver birch branch (dead, and inserted as a photographic prop near the feeder pole), climbs the birch until level with the fat ball holder, and then hops across. After feeding she flies directly up into the nut tree, cleans her bill, and then flies off southwards.

A week or so ago, she was visiting even more frequently - one day she came five times before mid-day(!) - and we came to the conclusion that she was probably feeding young. In the warmer dry weather she started deviating from her usual behaviour, and coming to our bird bath and 'mini-pond' for a drink. This gave me a few slightly different opportunities for photography, although I was having to shoot through the double glazing of my study or the conservatory. Note the long probing tongue in the first image.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (female) - our garden

I'm not sure how long she will continue to visit us for - her visits have thinned out a bit in the last three days - but we're hoping, if she does have youngsters, that she will bring them to visit us too!

Whilst on the subject of the garden, on Friday we lifted the garden annual total of species visiting to 35 - not with anything as spectacular as April's Redstart, but with a Carrion Crow. It was about time, as we see a Crow round our garden virtually every day, but this was the first day this year that we've actually seen it put a foot down in the garden (the criterion that we use for counting a garden bird). We're not halfway through the year yet, but we've already beaten our previous annual record (last year's) by three species!

Carrion Crow - our garden (bringing the garden year-list up to 35 species)

End of April Round Up - 2013

My posts have been a little thin on the ground lately, but I haven't been totally idle on the bird watching and photography front.

OWLS:

Other than those photos already published, there have been a few other sightings during April.

I'd not seen a Little Owl at my Site No.17 for several visits, so I was delighted to find both owls out and about when I visited on 13th, even though they did not present themselves for decent photography!

Little Owl (believed to be female) - my Site No.17

Little Owl (believed to be male) - my Site No.17

My second-ever Little Owl site, No.02, continues to be one of my most faithful, and my concerns after finding a Barn Owl in the nest building have proven to be unfounded. On 17th April one of the owls was out on the edge of one of the holes in the roof.

Little Owl - my Site No.02

On 30th April, as I arrived at my local patch, one of the owls at No.02 flew from a point unseen into a nearby tree. It was quite well hidden, but I spotted it!

Little Owl - my Site No.02

Whilst I checked to see whether I'd got the camera settings OK the owl disappeared, unseen by me! I set off down the public footpath, turning to look into the opening in the end of the barn as I passed, and spotted an owl up on a beam inside the roof. Now I always have difficulty telling the two owls apart at this site as they are extremely similar in appearance. I'm not sure if this was the owl originally seen or whether this was the second owl (although I suspect the latter, as the original owl was more likely to have flown off down the lane when it saw I wasn't looking). I usually compare head markings but the photographic evidence is inconclusive in this case!

Little Owl - my Site No.02

One of the hazards that I'm running into at the moment is cattle in fields. I used to be quite blasé about being in a field with them, but I've heard so many stories of late about people (even farmers) coming to a sticky end, that I'm now quite cautious. Access to two of the sites on my local patch was impeded for some time as it meant crossing a field containing cows with calves. On 21st April I just managed to get into the field containing my LO Site No.30 before the stampeding cows arrived at the gate behind me!! In the event, it was barely worth the risk as the owl was (as it usually is!) in a dreadful position for photography, and I had to make one heck of a long deviation to get back to my car without encountering the cattle again. One day I'll get a decent shot from this site!

Little Owl - my Site No.30

I was up this way again on Thursday, and the field that had the cows in was empty, giving me free access to my LO Site No.11. However, they are now in the actual field which has my Site No.30!

Also, on that last day of the month, I was delighted to spot a Little Owl at my Site No.03. This was the first sighting since November last year. This owl was also hiding quite well.

Little Owl - my Site No.03

Since my previous post, I have now (unfortunately) confirmed that both my Little Owl Sites Nos. 34 & 36 have been taken over by Jackdaws. However, I did also manage to find the nest site for my new LO Site No.40, but just missed getting a photo - fingers are now crossed!!

GARDEN BIRDS:

One of the reasons why I've not got so much birding in during the past few weeks is that I've been busy in our garden. I'd been conscious that some of my images showed the garden fence in a deplorable state, and the garden absolutely full of weeds. The birds didn't mind these things, but it was a little embarrassing for me!

Things have now got much quieter in the garden with, it appears, all the winter visitors now having left.

The last sightings of Brambling were on 16th (when we had a pair) and 17th April (just a female), before the weeding had been done!

Brambling (pair) - our garden

Brambling (male) - our garden

Brambling (female) - our garden

The last Lesser Redpoll was seen on 1st May, and the last Siskin on 29th April. We did have this male Reed Bunting visit us on 18th April.

Reed Bunting (male) - our garden

Last year we had a juvenile female Great Spotted Woodpecker visiting us on a 'several times a day' basis, and I got quite worried when she suddenly stopped visiting us. I'm delighted to say that she's back. I'm confident that it's the same bird as she had a particular way of approaching, and then fed exclusively on the fat balls (most woodpeckers will go for the peanuts). This time she started in this exact same way. However, she is now getting a little more adventurous and, in the last couple of days, has been drinking from both of our water supplies. Today she tried some sunflower hearts (but still no peanuts!). Here's a photo to be going on with. I'm hoping for better!

Great Spotted Woodpecker (female) - our garden

It's a bit of a blessing that we've not seen a Sparrowhawk on our garden since the beginning of April. The male with the aberrant spotting on the wings visited us on 1st April - you can see what I mean about the fence having been in need of some attention!.

Sparrowhawk (male) - our garden

If I'm to continue with garden photography, I'll probably need to focus on getting better images of some of the more usual birds. Here's a couple of some of the more colourful of our visitors, but with plenty of room for improvement with the images!!

Bullfinch (male) - our garden

Goldfinch - our garden

Well, that's it for now. Off to do a bit of ironing, and then hope to get out tonight to do some owling! Thanks for dropping by.

Changes and Disappointments - on 27th April, 2013

For a number of reasons, I've not done as much owling lately as I would have liked, and the few excursions I have had have not yielded very exciting results. The birds seem to be keeping their heads down, so to speak. On Saturday I resolved to put in the hours to try and get some results. It was windy and dull, but the forecast was for brighter, less windy, weather later.

I had to go and get some bird seed from my supplier in the morning, and this gave me a chance to check on my Little Owl Site No. 15. On the way out there was nothing to be seen, but the hailstones were falling out of the sky and it was windy! On the way back, however, one of the owls was out, clinging precariously to a 'ledge' on the main trunk of the tree, in the lee of the wind. The field containing the nest tree is under cultivation so I can only view from the roadside, over 100 metres (yards) away.

Little Owl - my Site No.15

I  then had an early lunch, packed a picnic, and set off to do some owling. My intention was to visit some of my more recently found sites, from which I've had little or nothing in the way of photos. My route took me past Cossington Meadows and, as there'd been reports of a couple of Ring Ouzel there, I thought I'd make a quick stop. The birds were still there, but staying very distant and well-hidden, so only record shots were obtained.

Ring Ouzel (pair) - Cossington Meadows - honestly!

Ring Ouzel - Cossington Meadows

My next stop was at my LO Site No.29, but no owl was seen. I had better luck at my Site No.21, where one of the owls was out, sheltering from the wind.

Little Owl - my Site No.21

I next went to check up on a site where I'd seen a Barn Owl a couple of times but, on subsequent visits, had found the farmer and others working round the buildings. My pal Titus and I had checked out this place on Thursday and found a whole mass of Barn Owl pellets had appeared since I first checked it out with the farmer who was working in the building at the time. We'd gone back late on Thursday evening (at about 20:50), and I'd briefly noted a shadowy bird which flew back into the building as we stopped. I thought I knew what I'd seen but I wasn't sure enough! On this Saturday I didn't approach the building but checked that all was in order for a later visit as darkness drew in.

My next stop was at my LO site No.37, but nothing was seen and I'm not sure that I've correctly located the nest tree here.

A few hundred metres (yards) down the road is where I park to visit my LO Sites Nos.34 & 36. I'd planned to set up my hide by No.36 and get some photos, but I was dismayed to see that the field was now occupied by frisky cattle. Instead I sat in my car and watched both the nest trees whilst I had some of my picnic tea. I was a little worried when, ouyt of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a Jackdaw emerge from the nest hole of No.34, but it didn't happen again.

As photography was not going to be possible here I decided to have a look to see if anything was happening a little further on at LO Site No.38. No owl was seen and there was farm work going on nearby. However, just a few metres up the road I spotted a little bird on the fence. It flew down into the field as I stopped, and I did manage a distant shot of a super male Whinchat - my first of the year!

Whinchat (male)

I'd only gone another couple of hundred metres (yards) up the road when I noticed a line of birds on the fence that was going at a right-angle away from the road. It was not until this moment that I knew that Wheatear formed flocks! There were nine on the fence and another two (at least) in the field below the fence. Because of the intervening fence beside me I failed to get a photo before they were suddenly off.

I went to check out a potential owl site (no luck) before heading back. Where the Whinchat had been there were now five Wheatear and a Whinchat. Two of the Wheatear were on the fence beside the road, but they flew off into the field when I was still a long way off. I only got very distant views of all six birds, but here is the best I could manage of a Wheatear.

Wheatear (female)

I continued back to the parking place for LO Sites Nos.34 & 36. This time I had positive confirmation that my Site No.34 had been taken over by Jackdaws. I hope that the owls were just evicted by the Jackdaws, and not killed. There was further disappointment when I saw Jackdaws entering the tree at Site No.36. However, as this tree has several entrances, the takeover is not totally confirmed.

The light was starting to fail by now, so I set off back to the Barn Owl site, parking about 150 metres from the barn. I sat in my car, finishing off my picnic, and waited. Just after 20:00 a Brown Hare appeared, and started messing about in the field. Suddenly it started coming towards me and stopped only about 20 metres (yards) away from my car. I managed to open the left hand side window (I'd been watching for the owl through the right hand side window) and get in a few shots with the camera before it was off.

Brown Hare

I waited and I waited, and as it was getting dark I made up my mind to depart for home at 21:00. At 20.55 a bird appeared on the timbers of the barn in exactly the same place that I'd glimpsed it two days earlier - I was right, it was a Tawny Owl! I took loads of shots in the hope that one would at least be recognisable (I was shooting at a distance of about 150 metres, with the lens at 500 mm, and 1/13 second, ISO 3200, -1.7 step compensation, handheld!). Amazingly several of the images, although not good, were OK for conveying the scene! This is a heavy crop!

Tawny Owl - undisclosed site, Leicestershire

My concern now is for the Barn Owl. Is this change a case of another eviction? Knowing the fierce reputation of Tawny Owls, it's hard to believe that these two species are existing side-by-side.

This story had to end on a high note. Ten minutes later, on my way home, in my headlights I saw a Little Owl sitting on a fence. I stopped and it moved two fence posts further away, and out of range. I moved on again and it was gone from view. This is currently my provisional new LO Site No.40! I shall return to check it out soon!

I arrived home just after 22:00 at the end of an interesting day, tinged with more than a little disappointment.

Willow Warbler (?) help please - on 15th April, 2013

I'm relatively new to birdwatching, and not very good at identification when it comes to LBJs (little brown jobs). This is partly due to inexperience and the fact that I usually birdwatch alone so don't have the benefit of knowledgeable advice from experienced birders, but also partly due to my increasing age-related inability to carry much in my head for extended periods!!

So where's this going to?

Well, each year, usually between the beginning of August and early September, I get what I've always believed to be Willow Warbler (rather than Chiffchaff) briefly visiting our garden. This has mainly been based on strong yellow colouration underneath and pale legs. I've never heard one utter a sound.

This year I had what I also believe to be a Willow Warbler visit my garden on Monday. Whilst there was virtually no yellow showing on the underside (a normal situation for spring, I believe), the legs were again pale red-brown. Again no song, or utterance of any sort, was heard. The only other possibility, I think, is Chiffchaff, but I've sort of ruled that out.

The bird appeared at about 09:00, and spent a lot of time busily grubbing around in a bit of rough weed-filled garden that is awaiting me getting my head round a project that I have in store (well, I do have to make some excuse for all those weeds!). It was barely still for a second. It obviously stayed close as, in total, I probably watched it for about two hours during the course of the day, it last being seen at about 18:00. All the time it was picking insects, etc. out of the weeds, only flying up into the surrounding shrubs when it was disturbed, and then dropping back down to the ground within seconds. The next day it was gone. 

All you experts out there, or anyone else with an opinion, is my identification correct, please? It would also help me, for future reference, if you could give your reasoning behind your identification.

Willow Warbler (?) - our garden

Thank you for taking the time to look at this. Your comments would be much appreciated.

UPDATE on 20/04/2013: Although there's no way I can guarantee that it's the same bird, we had a return visit today - and this time it sang from the top of our nut tree! This bird was definitely a Willow Warbler!

Barn Owls - on 11th and 13th April, 2013

At the end of my last post, which was about a fine male Redstart in our garden being the bird that caused us to break our annual garden record for bird species - less than a third of the way through the year, I promised that my next post would be about Barn Owls. I was tempted to break that promise as, just one day after writing that post, we added another garden first for the year in the form of a Willow Warbler. However, as that is just an LBJ, I've decided to keep my word!

On Thursday, my pal Titus (he who has Barn Owls nesting in his garden) and I did an evening shift on the Osprey Project at Rutland Water.  It was a very dull and murky evening, occasionally interrupted by rain. At times it was not too easy to see the Ospreys, but they were quite active for the first half of the shift. At that time, there was one egg in the nest. I expect that, by now, there are three!

Distractions were in the form of a Muntjac that was foraging round the hide, but all was quiet otherwise.

I'd been keeping a weather eye on the owl box which can be seen from Waderscrape hide. Three Barn Owl chicks had fledged from this box last year. However, no Barn Owl was seen to so much as poke its head out of the box. I was, therefore, quite surprised to see a Barn Owl appear to the left of the hide at 19:27. The light was, by now, really awful and the prospects of getting a decent flight shot were nil. These were the best that I could manage.

Barn Owl - Rutland Water, Manton Bay at 19.27

The owl was soon lost to sight, round the back of the hide, and Titus popped out to have a look. He was gone a few minutes, and then popped back to say that there were two owls hunting, well apart! I continued watching the Ospreys whilst Titus alternated between owls and Ospreys. When he told me that an owl had settled on a post, I couldn't resist popping out to take a few shots. Unfortunately it was a long way away! This was at 19:35 and 1/80 sec. handheld at ISO 3200.

Barn Owl - Rutland Water, Manton Bay at 19.35

At 19:52 I noticed that an owl was visible from the hide, and on a nearer post. This one was 1/30  sec. handheld at ISO 3200!

Barn Owl - Rutland Water, Manton Bay at 19.52

After this, one of the owls started circling the hide, and at 19:57 it settled on a distant post in front of the hide, by the water's edge. It was nearly fully dark by now and I wound down the exposure compensation in order to more accurately depict the light conditions at the time, and also to give me the best possible chance of getting any image at all!

Barn Owl - Rutland Water, Manton Bay at 19.57

We continued to watch the owls and the Osprey for a while but then shortly, at about 20:05 we decided that we'd better pack up and go home. We'd enjoyed well over half an hour with Barn Owls flying around. I'll never know whether I saw both of them as Titus was the only one who saw two owls at one time! I was pleased that I'd brought a torch with me - it was much needed as we packed everything away!

The following day I had a phone call from a good friend (you know who you are - thank you, you're a star!) who said he'd been talking to one of his customers who told him that he was seeing a Barn Owl every morning between 06:30 and 07:00 on a certain stretch of road. It was spending time hunting along the road,  but could also often be seen sitting on a freshly cut roadside hedge. My pal suggested that, as it wasn't too far from me, would I like to go and investigate? In reality it was about 15 miles (24km) from my home, but I've got some Little Owl sites in the vicinity and knew the area reasonably well. I went and spent that evening at the location to check it out, and hoping that the owl frequented this place in the evening too. Nothing was seen, however.

My alarm clock was set for 05:00 and, next morning, off I set. I arrived in the half-light at 06:20 to see a Barn Owl flying down the road towards me. I'd already sussed out the parking situation so was able to throw my Smart car into a gap and wait. It kept flying towards me and then, when it was only about 4 metres in front of me, it crossed over in front of my car! I know, from past experience, that there is absolutely no point in trying to take photos through the windscreen of the Smart. They just end up a blurry mess! Besides, it was far too dark for a flight shot.

The owl then set off back up the road, flew off into the nearest field where it settled for a while, and then came back to the hedgerow some distance away and headed back towards me. This one was taken at 06:29, 1/250 sec at ISO 2500 (the light was still very poor).

Barn Owl - undisclosed site, Leicestershire, at 06:29

It continued slowly towards me and then, to my delight, landed on top of the hedgerow in a position where I could take shots from inside my car. I stood a chance of some semi-respectable photos. This one was 1/250 sec. at ISO 800

Barn Owl - undisclosed site, Leicestershire, at 06:30

It stayed here for a short while and then it was off again, continuing up the road ahead of me and sometimes diverting into the fields on either side of the road. It seemed to me that it had no intention of coming back my way so I set off on foot to follow it, keeping as close to the hedge as possible to make myself less conspicuous, although I suspect that I was fooling no one!!

For virtually all the time, I was at a distance of  over 100 metres, and this only allowed 'habitat' shots. Frustratingly the light was improving all the time and the sun was shining, although still low on the horizon.

These next three  images were taken between 06:48 and 06:57 at ISO 500, 1/400, 1/250, 1/200 sec. respectively.

I was getting nowhere fast with the photography, and had followed the owl for over a mile when it suddenly turned and started flying back along the road towards me. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to wind the ISO up for a flight shot, and grabbed a number of frames, including the following two images, which I'm not too disappointed with, taken at 1/1000, ISO 1000 - what a difference to light a few short minutes can make!

Barn Owl - undisclosed site, Leicestershire, at 06:58

Immediately after this last shot was taken it flew up into a tree directly over the road from where I was standing - and settled behind a thick branch which almost totally obscured its position. Damn and Blast! I tried to move to a better spot but it was off again and then landed in the next tree along - again obscured by a branch, but this time only partially.

Barn Owl - undisclosed site, Leicestershire, at 06:59

It only stayed here a couple of seconds and then was off up the road again. It was now time for me to leave things alone until another day, and head home for some breakfast. 

This was a parting shot of the departing owl. I'd had 40 delightful minutes of its company, and was feeling very happy!

Barn Owl - undisclosed site, Leicestershire, at 06:59

On the way home I dropped onto a couple of my Little Owl sites, but only spotted two owls at one site. Little did I know that, a couple of hours later, I was to see a Redstart in my garden!