Home bound bonus!

Today for the first time over the Xmas period I managed to get out for a few hours, not a good choice though as it was a cold, damp and foggy day, not very conductive for seeing owls!

Anyhow, during my rounds I visited a good 10 sites and sadly owls were only seen at two. The first sighting was of a sleepy Little Owl located hiding in a conifer bush at site No 11 near to Claybrook Magna.

All the time I was there it never moved, it just sat and stared!

The second owl located was at site No 99 near to Barwell, it obviously wasn't too keen on me and the noisy Landrover as it kept partially hidden, a good siting though as I haven't seen birds at this site since April.

Although the weather was poor it was still concerning just how few owls were seen, I am hoping that this isn't a sign that the bad weather has taken its toll on my local owl population?

During my days travels this very handsome Nuthatch was seen, too good an opportunity not to grab a few close up images.

As the light was fading fast and the fog coming down (again!)  I'd given up hope of seeing any more owls and decided to call it a day. As I headed home through a local village what greeted me in a roadside tree in a local residents front garden was just magic..........Waxwings, and loads of them!!

The Landrover was quickly positioned and a good 20 minutes viewing and photography was had. They were great to watch but a nightmare to try and get a decent image of, these are a few of the better images I managed.  

In total I counted 19 different Waxwings whilst there, the residents informed me that had been up to 50 present and they had been around for a couple of weeks. Good news that the tree in question is still laden with berry's (not sure what kind though?) so as soon as the sun is shining............I'll be back! 

Arty Farty!

Over the last two days I have been going about my normal owling business only this time I was in the good company of Andy Rouse the well know wildlife photographer. We had loads of plans, loads of sites to visit and loads and loads of Little Owls to photograph............well that was the plan!!! The weather has been just abysmal and it hardly stopped raining for the two days he was with me. To make the most of the daylight hours (what day light?) we had two early starts and staked out numerous locations.

Below are a few of the images I managed (as usual double click on it for greater detail), not a lot to show considering the amount of time we spent, but not too bad when you take into account the constant rain and very low light levels. We had some very quiet periods when the owls just did not show, so this gave me plenty of opportunity to discuss with Andy some of the photo techniques he employs which results in some stunning images.

Among all the tips and advice he gave me one of the best was to try and achieve an atmospheric image that shows not only the owl but the natural surroundings it lives in too. Given the right situation, conditions and some accommodating owls I will be trying this new technique out in the future.

My first attempt at an "atmospheric image" normally I would have cropped this image so it would have shown just the owl and hardly any thing else. Here we can see (if you look hard enough) the owl just emerging from its nest entrance with some superb tree detail.

The same bird a split second or so late, I've had to crop out some really horrible areas of the image and thus the composition is not quite right but I think it works.................nearly???

The next site we visited is a bird and an setting I have taken on many previous occasions, only this time I have tried to be a little bit more "arty" by allowing the image to "breath" a bit. Can you see the owl?

Another attempt at being a little more artistic, nicely posed owl and some nice detail on the tree trunk and nothing else that is distracting to the eye!

This next image shows a nice natural "green" habitat that I particually like that shows off the bird well, but due to the foreground branches I had to crop it more that I would have liked. Obviously the horrible grey sky on the right hand side is really distracting to the eye and completely spoils the image.

This next image was taken from quite a considerable distance and I would normally have cropped right into the bird making it hardly usable, but because I haven't been as severe as normal with the cropping it makes the image a little more usable.

Finally this last image shows I thought a little more about my positioning and got a nice composition of the Little Owl and on an interesting branch..........but what spoils it is the horrid gap in the background trees that shows the sky, doooohhhhh!!!! 

It was a real experience and privilege spending some time with Andy and hopefully his advice will pay dividends for me in the future??...........Cheers Andy.

99 Not out!!!!!

This evening the sun stayed out albeit being bitterly cold.......again! Not sure if it would be a good time for owl watching or not? I decided that I hadn't been over to the western side of my patch for a while as I had a tip to follow up from my mate Tony about a likely site at Barwell.

  

On route I went via Peckleton, here both the local owls were out getting a bit of evening sun. It is not easy to get near to the birds at this site so I had to be content with these distant images.

Site 6, Peckleton Hall, owl No 1.

Site 6, Peckleton Hall, owl No 2.

Next stop was Brockey Farm near to Kirkby Mallory, I wanted to check out the nest box that I'd put up here recently and see if it had any new residents. As I pulled up both birds were spotted at distance sitting together on some low posts, image below.  

Site 42, Brockey Farm site A

Whilst I watched and waited for them to come closer one bird dived from the post and onto the ground with wings spread. Then to my surprise it flew in my direction and landed in a tree no more than 15 mts away, I then realised it had caught a mouse/shrew or some kind of small rodent and was now perched up readily devouring its meal, image below.

If you look closely you can just about make out his dinner in his tallon

Before my destination of Barwell was reached I wanted to make one more slight detour to a site where I haven’t seen an owl for absolutely ages..........Brockey Farm site B. Due to the location of the nest tree here I can't use the Landover as a hide, this maybe the reason why it proves difficult to see the owls here because they see you coming first! Anyway today my luck change because as I approached the nest tree I spotted the owl just before he spotted me and the below image was possible.

 

Site 50, Stapleton - Brockey Farm site B

Finally I arrived at Brookhill Farm, Barwell, I went to see the land owner and gained permission to drive around the estate in the Landover, that was a result because idle so and so's like me don't want to be walking too far now do we!!!!

Going on the info that Tony had given me I started searching the area, after a while I came upon a group of willows that looked very very owley. As I drove up slowly I spotted an owl sitting among the sprouting foliage, yes yes yes Tony was right.......COME ON IN LITTLE OWL No 99!!!!!!

This bird stayed dead still relying heavily on his camoflage to keep him safe from detection.

I was at an awkward angle for good views so I drove off and turned back round giving a better perspective of the whole tree, it was a good decision as I then spotted a second bird...............RESULT!!!!! Once I'd made eye contact he wasn't hanging around and off he flew to the next tree, I followed slowly and managed this image below.

Site 99, Barwell -  Brookhill Farm Site B