Hi and welcome to my Blog, my name is Paul Riddle and I live in south Leicestershire, UK. Back in August 2007 my quest began to locate as many local Little Owl territories as possible. The driving force was a reported decline in the uk numbers so I thought I would do my bit and conduct a study in my area. After 7 years and countless hours out in the field I have detected over 200 different sites. With a thirst for a greater understanding of the owls a more comprehensive monitoring and nest box programme then commenced. This also now includes monitoring the local and very sparse population of Barn Owls, please pop back occasionally and catch up with the life and times of my owls and any other wildlife that I come across. I hope you enjoy your visit!!!

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Bank holiday blues!

Up and out by 5.50am on Monday morning, the weatherman had predicted a glorious day and I'd been granted a pass out until early afternoon, superb nearly a whole days owling and for what???

I may of well spent the Bank Holiday with the rest of the population pulling my hair out and moaning whilst sitting in lengthy traffic queues whilst attempting to visit a local attraction of some kind. But no, I opted to sit in my Landrover for a whopping 8 hours for two very brief owl sightings! The weather was crappy, intermittent showers complemented with a constant breeze made the conditions for seeing the owls very poor indeed. It is always a bit slow seeing owls post breeding season but this was so bad I was wishing at times that I too was having a glorious time in some motorway grid lock.

Anyway, that's my rant over.......am I getting a bit cantankerous? The two birds that did show were both sheltering out of the wind, they just sat there looking rather cosy. Neither of them ventured out, they were obviously not as stupid as me.

First owl of the day, site No 105 near to South Wigston, it only took it four hours to put in an appearance, and all it did then was poke its head out!

Yeah you just stay in there.....Mr warm owl!


The second owl of the day, site No 16 near to Kilby was a fleeting glimpse too, but at least it had the decency to show a bit more of itself. A good sighting though, as I thought the owls here had gone, no sightings since February! My mate Nigel said he saw an owl here a couple of weeks ago so after investigating it proved he was quite correct, I bet he didn't wait for over 3 hours though!

Quite a tatty looking individual?


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3 comments:

  1. colin30 August 2011 at 20:06

    Keep yer pecker up Mr Rid Indian summer coming,,,,,,,,,,,,,I hope

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  2. Richard Pegler30 August 2011 at 20:31

    Hey Paul. That first image is just brilliant - well worth the four hour wait! Far better owling than my Monday - I went out for the evening and the only photos I took were of a rat emerging from what I had thought to be the nest hole at my latest site! The two brief appearances of the owl were not photographable.

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  3. Paul Riddle30 August 2011 at 21:05

    Thanks for your comments guys, bloody hell Col, forever the optimist!!
    Richard it sounds as though your day was as fruitless as mine, I'd of been happy with the odd rat! I didn't think much to either image I got, but on your expert opinion I have uploaded my first image to birdguides!

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