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!!!

Monday, 26 September 2011

Out of town owling?

Getting back to work today prove to be a bit of a chore, Monday's are bad enough to endure after a weekend but after a weeks holiday they are even worse!!! I was over in Ely, Cambridgeshire making some customer calls and whilst driving between two of them guess what I saw????

Did you guess? Oh you know me too well!

Yep that's right, a new Little Owl location, get in there site No 199!

I was casually giving all the roadside barns and shacks the once over as I drove past.......just in case! And then to brighten up my day there one sat on top of a rusty old barn. As ever the camera equipment was in the boot, so after a quick pit stop the kit was out and a record shot was in the can, below.


My clumsy antics flushed the bird, (what an oaf!) but not too far away thankfully, only to the roof of another barn. The car was maneuvered to a more advantageous position where the sun caught the owl perfectly.



I sat there quietly rattling off the shots when hello hello what's this then? A second owl popped its head over the apex.


Next thing they were having a right old squabble


A brief restbite with the arguing, they remembered I was there!


After some good but not too close views one bird flew off across the road, the second owl seemed curious of me and came closer for a better look.


I know these were not Leicestershire owls but I not that fussy, they are still going down on my list. I will try and catch up with them when ever I am working in the area.

3 comments:

  1. It's truly unbelievable how many Little Owls you find Paul. I'm on the lookout so much and I've only seen a handful and only 3 in daylight. Great images again.

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  2. i bet it takes you ages to get to work each morning Rid.....

    Enjoying all the recent headers images too !

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  3. Christian, you need to move to Leicestershire mate, we have a few here or how about the north east they have even more!!

    Tell you what stevie, I can't believe I haven't put the car in a ditch yet, my eyes are hardly on the road!

    Cheers for your comments guys.

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