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!!!

Saturday 4 February 2012

A quick pit stop

Last night I had an extraordinary evening in comparison to my "normal" Friday night out,  the beer monster in me didn't materialise and the consumption was very much on the lean side!! Hooray no hangover this morning, more money in my pocket than expected and feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed too.

From my experiences one of the very best times of the year to see Little Owls is on a bright sunny winters morning following a bitter nights frost, and they were just the conditions we had today. So not one for wasting an opportunity and because I was feeling so good and clear headed it was off out at first light to see what was about.

I made a bee line to one of my favourite but not very often visited sites near to the village of Gilmorton. The reason I don't visit that often is because I know from old that it is a site that really lends itself to an early morning shoot (not something I often do!) because of the light direction. In addition to that and possibly more importantly one can observe and shoot from inside the car whilst keeping relatively warm, definitely a requirement for today!

After a while waiting an owl eventually appeared, trouble was by then the frost had already been zapped by the sun which took away the "wintery" effect I was after.




So now I have had time to pop back home and warm up, update my blog and make another flask of coffee its off out again to see what else we can find........

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I am so glad that you decided to get out early and snag these wonderful Little Owl images, for they are so delightful!

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  2. Magnificas imagenes
    Felicidades.

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  3. Beautiful little owl! Excellent photos as always!

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  4. I love the third one Paul - beautifully composed .

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