Hung like a Bull!

No time for watching owls tonight, I was far too busy erecting some of the first completed owl boxes in the second batch of 20. My very good mate Daz came along to lend a hand and do all the donkey work, he's a good lad you know!

The selected area was a huge pasture area south of the village of Willoughby Waterleys, an area that already has half a dozen or so established Little Owl territories. The location is a perfect choice for the boxes, plenty of grassy pasture, an abundance of isolated mature trees, dense hedgerow all around and best of all it is totally private with no roads or footpaths.

It was decided not to erect the first two boxes near to where any existing nests sites are, they were positioned "in between" territories, thus hoping to create attractive sites for the now roaming juveniles and an overall longer term denser population.

Daz doing the donkey work, I was directing the operation!!!!!!!

The first box in its final position, an Ash tree with a nice open aspect and a hedgerow running along underneath..........just about perfect!

The second box was erected in a mature Oak tree, again a hedgerow underneath which will offer protection to the birds as well as an excellent environment for them to grub around for food. Note how the green box blends in much better than the old brown ones did.

The 3rd box was also erected in a Ash tree, Little Owls are in residence here so we are hoping they will find the box a more attractive proposition and move in........time will tell.

Whilst putting up the 3rd box we were in close attendance of this menacing character, we kept a very close eye on him at all times, Daz reckons he is built like a bull, not sure which part of his anatomy he is referring to though!!!!

Only another 17 boxes to put up now, that'll be a job for this weekend, and the next weekend, and even the one after that!

Short & Sweet.

No new sites tonight, I just didn't have enough time to go out searching in between finishing work and getting back to watch the footie, therefore its going to be a quick post.

So I made the most of what little time I had and revisited site 125 which was located late last Sunday night. I was hoping the juveniles located would still be hanging around and they would relinquish some photo opportunities?

After a bit of searching I located the first bird in the very same bush it was in on Sunday, a little distant but close enough to confirm without doubt it to be a juvenile.

Juvenile No 1

Whilst I was getting some images a second bird was heard, it was located almost immediately as it was only in the next tree! Without even having to manoeuvre the landrover I was able to get some images of that bird too.

Juvenile No 2

Then to my delight both birds sat together for an instant.........how cute!

An easy find!!!

Its getting ridiculous, almost every time I have been out owling recently I am finding new sites! Yes it is highly probable it is the juveniles moving away from their natal sites looking to set up their own territories, but never the less they are all still in areas where I have never seen Little Owls before! In my experience the juveniles don't move too far away so in the future the adults and the breeding sites shouldn't be too difficult to locate, with a bit of luck that is!

Last night was no exception to recent events, a nice leisurely walk along the local canal at Kilby Bridge in an area that I have no Little Owl territories..... until last night that is! At around 7.30pm the light was starting to go, as I'd walked a good mile from the car I decided I'd gone far enough and about turned for the return journey.  Then totally out of the blue I thought I heard a single Little Owl call? I couldn't be positive, maybe it was a figment of the imagination.... or just wishful thinking!!

Then I heard it again, and again, there was two of them, they where calling to each other along a hedgerow a 100 metres or so into a field from where I stood. After what seemed an aged I finally located one of them sitting high up in a hawthorn bush, sadly it got too dark to locate the second bird but what a result, new site No 125!

A labour of love.

The Little Owl nest box production line as of 5.30pm Sunday afternoon, the work in progress now tallies 13 boxes, I'm not looking forward to treating the timber though, it takes ages to do 3 coats and its a bloody boring job! 

Hung over owling.....AGAIN!!!!

Same old story, Saturday morning and completely hung over from the alcohol abuse the night before! Not to worry, I had other plans today, making more Little Owl boxes. Come 4.0pm I'd put together 7 boxes and painted 3 of them, its was real slog and very slow going but the hangover was abating and I was starting to liven up, the sun was out, albeit spasmodically so it was time to get out there! 

This evenings expedition took me over to Willoughby to check on a few of the local sites, nothing to be seen or heard at sites 31, 22,21, 20, 60 or 45. Whats going on? To visit so many sites in succession and see nothing is quite unusual, was it something to do with my blurry vision and that I had still got my beer goggles on!!!

Anyway site No 103 came to the rescue, 2 juveniles were easy to locate as they were making a right racket with their continuous alarm calls from within the depths of an Ash tree, I never did see the birds but I did see the local moggy sneaking around underneath, obviously the reason for the owls distress.

From site 103 I decided to make my way home in the opposite direction to normal, this took me down a very narrow, muddy farm lane that only ever sees the occasional bit of farm traffic. It was very quiet, spooky quiet really, and then it happened, I was passing a farm gate that lead into an open pasture area when I spotted two Little Owls sitting on a fence post....what luck!!!!

Another new site (No 124) and again without even trying! I sat and watched them for 5 minutes or so when one of them took flight and came towards me.

The flighty owl came and landed on a fence post not 10 metres from where I was parked up. As I had my camo screen up at the Landrover window he couldn't see me......but he could hear me!  The deafening sound of the camera shutter completely killed the tranquil silence and scared him off, but not before I took advantage of the situation and rattled off some images.

On a roll!

A late trip out tonight again proved very successful, on my quick tour around the Peatling Magna area Little Owls were seen at site No 16, 1 bird and site No 28, 1 bird heard, not bad I thought considering I was having a lazy night and doing all this from my car! As the light was drawing in I decided to call in at "owl avenue" on my way home to see which species.....if any were owl n about. 

About a mile before I got there I noticed a "typical Little Owl blob" in a roadside Ash tree, and in an area I hadn't seen one before. I pulled up and locked the bino's straight onto the blob before it disappeared, and yes yes yes.......it was an owl and a new site 123.

A characteristic blob that stands out against the "light" evening sky, similar sights like this have resulted in at least 50 of my new sites being located,  below left of the bird is the nest entrance.

Due to the time taken at the new Little Owl site I arrived later than planned at owl avenue and Little Owl site No 68. Anyhow not to be perturbed I pulled up, opened the windows and listened. First to show was a male Tawny Owl calling from the tree to my right, next was a Barn Owl that crossed in front of me hawking along the high dry grass. I'd about given up on the Little Owls showing when one appeared right in front of me on a road side fence post, sadly it was far to dark for any images........or was it??????

I turned on the car headlights to get a better view, it wasn't bothered an iota, in fact it continued to drop down onto the road, pick up a beetle or bug and return to its post. Whilst it did this I thought what the hell lets try and get an image, and this was the result. Through the (dirty) car windscreen, illuminated by the headlights, manual focusing and a shutter speed of 1 second, by no means a great image but something a little different!!!!

Month off to a flyer!!!!

What a super start to the month, two more Little Owl territories located tonight that now takes my overall tally to 122! I was checking out site No 18 over at Hinckley, only 1 bird heard calling there (of unknown age), after a good half hours wait I decided that it wasn't going to show for any photo's so it was time to move on. I'd only driven for a few minutes down the lane when I chanced upon another superb looking area that just oozed owls! Open fields/paddocks, boarded by a nice thick hedgerow, loads of low fence posts and a couple of very nice looking mature Ash trees. I sat quietly giving the general area the once over when I heard an owl calling from beyond the hedgerow, I couldn't believe my luck! A 30 minute wait then produced the goods as it showed. No images were possible due to the dam branches in the way but hey ho another new site!

During my rounds I stopped off at Site No 22 near to Whetstone Gorse, although very distant both adults were out and sitting in the nest tree getting some late evening sun. Can you see them both in this image?  

I then moved over to the adjacent paddock at site No 22 where the juvs are normally located and true to form they were there again, all 3 of them! The light by now was pretty crappy but I did managed this one distant effort of one of the juvs sitting in a xmas tree.

The next new site (No 122) was located at Whetstone Gorse West, here I was driving along a real narrow lane when an owl landed on top of a telegraph pole 20 yards in front of me. It was calling out loud and making a right old racket, then to my astonishment it was joined by a second bird!, both adults. They then vanished as quick as they had appeared, I've previously checked this area time and time again and nothing, just goes to show how secretive they really can be.

Not a bad evenings owling, with birds also being seen at site  96 x 1, site 39 x 1 and site 53 x 2 making a tally of 13, hope that number doesn't prove to be unlucky!!!!!!

120 & 77.

My very late search for more juveniles proved fruitful today, another 5 located across 2 sites today takes the 2010 total to an incredible 77. But the good news doesn't finish there, there was also an added bonus of another two brand new Little Owl sites taking the overall tally to 120 in just 2 years..........a mere 100 more sites than my original target of 20 in 3 years!!!!!!

The first new site (No 119) was just outside the village of Kilby, a very vocal bird but I wasn't able to locate its exact location for the purpose of a photo due to the heavy foliage it was hiding in, I will return!

The second new site of the day (No 120) was just outside the village of Slawston, after a long wait the potential site produced the goods when 2 juveniles showed, unfortunately one of them was very camera shy, nevertheless its sibling made up for that and showed really well in a variety of poses and locations.

A very showy bird at what I think must be the nest entrance.

It went up high in the tree but still kept its eye on me.

After a while it's confidence grew and it came down to feed from the fence posts.

Bloody hell then it landed right in front of me, I had to zoom out otherwise I wouldn't of been able to fit it into the view finder. The light wasn't good (sun from behind the subject) but it wasn't difficult to capture the birds detail when your taking an image from about 6 feet!!

On the way home I made a detour to site No 9 at Welham, this was my first check for juveniles at this site this year, luckily I knew where to look and as it happens it wasn't too late............3 were located on a distant wall. My patience paid off when one of them came over to check me out, as you can perhaps gather from the image it was very vocal and not best pleased of my presence...... I was glad of his though! 

The 2010 tally keeps ticking over, that's now 77 juveniles across 36 sites.

3 new Little Owl sites.

I was going to get up nice and early today, but you know what its like when you have had one too many the night before and the effects still haven't worn off the morning after......resulting in yet another late start!

Today was all about finding more Little Owl sites, I've been doing some homework after a bit of networking at the Birdfair and I was going to find out today if it was all worth it!

First raptor of the day was this superbly marked Kestrel, makes a change from Little Owls I suppose.

I was searching around the Saddington area and it didn't take too long before site No 116 was located. Sadly no adult birds where seen here but a very satisfying 3 juveniles.

Juvenile No 1

Juvenile No 2 

Juvenile No 3

Next owl to be located was another Juvenile also at Saddington, this territory was pretty close to the first, only two fields away.

An alert juvenile at site No 117.

The final new location of the day and new site No 118 was an adult owl near to Gumley. Sadly the image is really poor due to the distance and the fact it wouldn't come out of the confines of the nest tree.

Can you see him?

Many thanks to David Scott for the shared info on the potential sites.

Comfortable Owling!

This is going to be a brief post as I have only just got in and I have to be out again in 10 minutes, I have a pressing appointment with the landlord down at my local..........well it is Friday night you know!!!!!

Site 115 was located this evening over at Brascote in a local residents back garden. Would you believe I was even allowed to drive my Landrover all over their back lawn in an attempt to get into a decent position to get an image. This is the life I thought, I wish every site could be like this, it couldn't get any better, but it did!!!!!! Tap tap tap on my window "would you like a cup tea or coffee" how could I refuse?

Double click on any image for a slightly bigger version.

Anyway, whilst I was busy sipping away the owl showed, I managed a few images but unfortunately it was a little distant.

He came a little closer.

Closer still.

As close as he got!

A super couple of hours and another site to add to my growing list. I will return soon to try and improve on my images and to obviously sample a bit more of the lovely coffee, and you never know I may get a piece of cake next time too!!

Many thanks to the very kind residents who allowed my to churn up their lawn and thanks to Colin Green who told me about the site.

Going Green!

I have just begun the assembly of my next 20 Little Owl boxes, hopefully they will be made and positioned in the next few weeks just in time to maybe attract some of this years juveniles once they start to disperse from their natal sites.

I now realise I made a fundamental mistake with the first 20 boxes I put up earlier this year........the colour!!!  Its not that the owls have any preference at all, they couldn't give a dam. The problems lies with how obvious they are when compared to the natural colour of a tree trunk, see image below.

Pictured below is the first off the production line sporting the new colour, hopefully they will blend in better with the natural environment and won't bring as much attention to themselves as the "brown box" did at site 96 where some scroat climbed the tree and stole 3 eggs out of the box!

In addition to the colour change I have also made a slight design change, the door has been moved over to the left hand side (did you notice the change?). The reason for this is the hen birds were found to prefer the front right hand side of the box to lay her eggs, therefore I thought it less disturbing to move the door over. 

Many thanks to Ken & Jean Goodrich for organising the supply of the timber through the Leicester And Rutland Ornithological Society.

Now on 113 sites........for 10 minutes!

Just got back from the Birdfair, and my Little Owl tally has moved on to 114 (capitalisation again John H, I took note and remembered!!). A couple of new sites near to Carlton Curlieu were added to my list on the drive back, many thanks to the couple who visited the stand on Saturday who gave me the info on the probable sites ........you were dead right. No photos to add (no camera) but they will follow sometime in the week, nothing much more to add so I am now going to go and attack a curry and a few pints, at my age and with my growing waistline maybe I should reconsider and go for salad and a low cal lager, mmmmmmmmmm I don't think so!!!!

Birdfair 2010

Two days down and only one to go, what a privilege it has been so far being on the LROS stand at this years Birdfair, (apart from the aching feet that is!). Loads of visitors too, plenty of old faces and loads and loads of new! I thought it was going to be hard work talking "all things owl" for three days but so far it has been an absolute breeze and the enthusiasm shown by some visitors to the stand has been exceptional and very rewarding.

The LROS stand, what a fabulous job Sue & Jim Graham have done putting it all together, well done guys a well deserved pat on the pack is due.

The new LROS membership has been steadily growing too, with Mr Hague showing us all how it is done recruiting new members, something to do with his good looks and natural charm..........apparently!!!!!

For all those visitors who have shown an interest in the Little Owl nest box that was on show, as promised this is the link, just double click here - LITTLE OWL NEST BOX.

Two out two in!

 A very early start to work today, I decided to take my camera with me just in case............

At around 6.30am I drove by site No 16 and a brace of owls were showing, after further inspection both the owls were confirmed to be adults, sadly still no evidence of any offspring so far this year. Never the less, it was still good to see them as this was the first sighting of both birds at the same time for a good few months.

I only managed an image of one of the owls, pretty poor quality though as it was taken from a considerable distance in poor light.

 

On my return journey I stopped off at around 5.30pm at site No 97 near to Wistow, here I encountered a pair of juveniles sitting out on the outer limbs of the nest tree, and in reasonable light conditions, too good a chance to miss!!!

A much better quality image of a pair of very amenable Little Owls!

Are the Buzzards to blame?

I was "owl n about" again Saturday evening, checking on a few local sites hoping for some more "late show" juveniles. The weather through the day had been really terrible (usless for seeing owls) which lead to the late start.

Again I went over to South Wigston but the pair juveniles that had set up a temporary home in a pile of logs had gone (see previous posting), or at least they weren't showing! Maybe it was the wet conditions they didn't like?

Anyhow, as I was in the area I thought I'd check out site No 77 as no owls had shown here on my last 3 or 4 visits, I was a little concerned for their welfare as a pair of Buzzards have built a nest in an adjacent tree and I feared the worse!!!! 

I staked out the nest tree for about 30 mins when I caught a movement up high in the canopy, upon closer inspection I located one of the adult Little Owls. It allowed me to get quite close, albeit it was never really in full view and never out in the open! I am now wondering if the close proximity of the breeding Buzzards has made them particularly nervous, maybe this is the answer to why there has been no breeding evidence  this year? 

 Little Owl Site 77, a nervous bird!

Although I didn't get any more owl action whilst in the fields at South Wigston there was plenty of activity from some other notable species, Lesser Whitethroat, Wheatear x 2, Stonechat, Green Sandpiper, Snipe and 3 x Kingfishers.

It was by now getting late so it was a quick dash over to Fleckney to check out sites 19 & 28 to see if this years tally of juveniles could be improved upon. No such luck, nothing showing at site 19 and only a single owl at site 28 and that was an adult.

On my return journey I stopped off at site 97 near to Wistow, beings as I know where to look it didn't take me long to locate the juveniles, and good news there are still 3 of them! It was not very conducive for images though as they were staying partially hidden and high up in the nest tree.   

Juveniles No 1 & 2 at site 97, can you see them both? 

I was just about to leave when one of the parent owls came in with a small vole, it landed on one of the outer limbs and started squawking, the temptation of food coaxed the youngsters out, the vole was ripped to bits by the juveniles in about 30 seconds, and yes all the action was missed........ I had just packed the camera away!!!!!!

Juvenile No 2 - post feeding frenzy! 

Juvenile No 3 - post feeding frenzy!  

Oh well I'm sure I'll have better luck next time with the action shots but it was still good to see all 3 juveniles showing and still doing really well.

Preparing for the Birdfair!

This years Birdfair at Rutland Water, promises to be the biggest and best yet, and this years show will have just a little bit of "owls about that then" on display on one of the stands!

LROS (Leicestershire & Rutland Ornithological Society) have a stand every year promoting the whys and wherefores of the society, any work undertaken and anything of note that has happened during the year. It appears that every year they have a "theme" of which the stand is based around, and this year I am very pleased to announce, it will be my owl survey. There will hopefully be plenty of details on how the survey began, how it is progressing and what has been understood so far along with a selection of owl pictures that should complement the story so far.

So if you are thinking of going please stop by to say hello to the LROS people, Marquee 2, Stand No.37 and have a chat (they won't bite!!!) and if you so which why not even take the opportunity to enroll and help boost the membership and help to continue their good work.

Hope to see you there?????????

Back in the groove.

Posting processing images is a daunting and laborious enough task a the best of times, but doing it with a pounding and thumping head has proved a real chore this morning. Prior to me going out for a few beers last night I thought I'd spend a couple of hours getting back into the "owling groove" after my 2 week break in Spain.

The chosen location was over at South Wigston, this is a private strip of land where I have 4 different Little Owl territories and I have full access to drive freely about in my Land Rover. 

Owls were seen at two locations, firstly two adult birds showed well at site No 104, as ever double click on any image for a larger more detailed version.

Owl No 1 at site 104.

Owl No 2 at site 104.

As I drove around the area nothing was seen or heard at sites 76 and 77, but when I approached site 105 a single juvenile was located sitting high up against a tree trunk. It then flew down and landed in an old pile of branches, I drove a closer to see what it was up to.

The 1st juvenile sheltering out of the wind and rain.

 Upon closer inspection of the pile of branches a second juvenile was seen.

I drove a little closer and parked up, to my amazement they didn't seemed bothered by my presence as they went about their business grubbing about looking for food.

Over the next half hour or so I got some of the best close up views I've ever had of Little Owls, on occasions I had to zoom my lens out because they were too near and I couldn't fit them into the frame!

Although I am very happy with my image collection from yesterday, it was raining and the light was terrible with shutter speeds around 1/50th of a second (very slow) so I am now off for a return visit, hopefully when I get there the conditions will be in better, fingers crossed!........oh, and my hangover will have gone!!!

Late additions!

Whilst out working today I knew my travels would take me past a site No 40 over at Thornton, as I hadn't had time to check this location so far this breeding season, I decided to take my camera with me just in case!

Around midday I pulled up in the gateway and viewed the nest tree from the car, this location is a perfect example of what  Little Owl's seem to prefer, open countryside, plenty of hedgerows in the area, a mature nesting tree with plenty of cavities that stands in total isolation (not a wooded area).

The perfect tree.

I gave the tree a once over with the binoculars but nothing could be seen, I must note that this tree is a good 100 yards from the road so seeing them from that kind of distance can be difficult. Not to be perturbed I walked across the field camera in hand to get a closer look. From about 50 yards I picked up a movement on the right hand side of the main trunk, could that be an owl??? I sat down and waited, and it wasn't long before my suspicions were confirmed, a pair of juveniles!!!!

View from 50 yards, can you see them?

Although they both seemed inquisitive of my appearance they were holding their ground. I then chanced my arm and tried to get a little closer, unfortunately at about 25 yards the first one decided enough was enough and flew off, the second held fast.

The braver of the two from around 25 yards.

Superb result and another 2 juveniles recorded for this year, this late addition takes the 2010 tally to 61 juveniles across 28 sites.

My appitite had been whetted by the juveniles earlier in the day so a very late run out in the landrover was in order at last light tonight. I was only out for around 30 mins but that was long enough for me to see 1 Tawny Owl and 3 Little Owls, the first 2 Little Owls were known birds at established territories but the third bird which flew across the road in front of me was a new one in an area I had never made a sighting before...........come on in site No 112!!!!

Daily Mail

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the Little Owl is a struggling species here in the UK and numbers are on the demise in most counties. So any publicity and spreading the gospel of their plight and struggle is good news,  especially when it is in the national newspaper, The Daily Mail. Today's issue (Aug 5th 2010) has an excellent and comical article with some stunning images supplied by Andy Rouse complemented with comments from Emily Joachim (both previously of "owls about that then" fame!!!!!) please take a look by clicking on this link, dailymail.