Soldiering On!!!

Any regular readers of this blog will no doubt know that I have been up against it just lately trying to get all my Barn Owl boxes up. Nearly a whole evenings was lost one day last week when Daz very inconsiderately fell off the ladder!!!!!  So this evening it was time to make amends and hopefully catch up with some more Barn Owl box erecting. Col (hammer head) Green and I were at it tonight and we had a very aggressive target of getting another 4 boxes up.....well that was the plan!!!!!

At the first location, a derelict barn not from from the village of Foston all was going well until Col decided to hit himself right in the middle of his forehead with a hammer.......yes a HAMMER!!!!!! Can you believe he did that???? No I can't either!!!!! Anyway, he staggered down off the ladder with blood dripping off the end of his nose, before first aid could be applied I asked Col if he wouldn't mind going back up the ladder to complete the box erection, I dare not repeat what he said but in no uncertain terms he made it quite clear it was my job to finish, would you argue with a man with a hammer in his hand!!!!

For prosperity sake I got Col to pose for the camera, well I couldn't miss this opportunity.......could I!!!

I completed the erection of the first box and we then made our way back to the Landrover, by now Col was feeling giddy and could see stars!!! He said he wanted to go home, I couldn't believe it, another evening ending prematurely and completely spoilt with my assistant being injured!

On the way back Col was obviously touched by my insistence that we should have more fighting spirit and solider on, regardless of any flesh wounds or holes in the head, "you have to think of the owls Col" and to my utter amazement he AGREED!!!!!!

I needed no further encouragement and turned off down a lane to the next location, Col was then elected (be me!!) to go up the ladder and erect the box. He can be seen here doing a fine job, doesn't look too happy though!

On completion of the second box I'd had time to reflect on Col's injuries and the fact that he was still feeling pretty groggy, so it was time to call it a day and get him back home, but not before I got him to agree he would help me out again later in the week, and he agreed.........result!!!!

Slow Start!

Its that time of year again for me to be out checking my owl sites for signs of breeding activity, so far it has been a very disappointing return with the Little Owls. I have dragged myself around dozens of sites over the last few days and so far only 4 sites have been found with eggs. There are 2 pairs in natural cavities, both with 3 eggs a piece and 2 pairs have taken up residence in my nest boxes, again each site has 3 eggs.

On the Barn Owl front it is slightly better news, thanks to Nigel Judson I now have my agents licence for this schedule 1 species that means I am able to approach the nest sites and closely monitor any breeding activity. Considering it is my first year working with Barn Owls it has got off to pretty steady start with 2 pairs occupying nest boxes, one has 5 eggs and the other 2 eggs. 

Whilst out today I was luckily enough to see a distant Barn Owl hunting and of course I bumped into a few Little Owls!

  

Not sure if the Little Owls are late starting this year, have deserted last years nest locations for some reason or some other unknown influence has effected their breeding patterns???? I will however not be deterred and shall continue to get around as many sites as possible over the next few weeks, fingers crossed for some improved returns.......

Trying to get a bit "arty".

Surprise surprise, I was out owling again for a few hours this evening, I ventured over to the eastern side of Leicestershire, an area that I am trying to develop regarding getting to know the "locals" and in time I will hopefully gain their trust and be allowed land access to erect some more nest boxes.

It is mostly a virgin area for me in regards to looking for new owl sites, so on the way back I took my time driving down the lanes and in the village of Launde, not far from the abbey I located another new territory, site No 176!!! Although I did see a pair of owls only one of them was prepared to hang around for an image or two, quite a reddish brown bird compared to what I normally see. Whilst observing them I also detected the nest cavity, hopefully some images of the chicks emerging from it in a month or so?

I have attempted to be a bit "arty" with this one!

Although it was getting on the light was extremely good, in fact too good at times and as it was sideways on to the owl it created some very harsh contrasting shadows!! I'm not complaining really, just being a bit fussy I suppose, I'm really quite pleased with the images I attained, especially the "arty" one!!

Sheltered Away.

A quick trip out this evening around the local lanes didn't produce too much in terms of owl sightings, the trouble being it was very windy and in these conditions they tend to be sheltered away and difficult to locate. I did however manage to stumble across a single Little Owl at my site No 167 near to Bruntingthorpe, luckily the sheltered side of the tree was right next to the road which fortunately offered some super views in the late evening sun.

I think these are my best images so far from this site, the light was just perfect so I had no excuses tonight! Just look at those talons, you wouldn't fancy being caught up in those.......glad I'm not a mouse!!!

A Serious Contender???

Up until very recently I was under the impression that Leicestershire was a serious contender for the Little Owl capital of the UK, but now I'm beginning to think it may be lagging behind the Staffordshire/Derbyshire area of the Peak District.

I have made 3 half hearted attempts at locating owls in this area whilst driving my way back home and so far I have a 100% hit rate with a new site on each "limited" pass through!

Its no different to locating owls else where really, I just look out for suitable habitat and hey presto the owls do the rest! I have to admit though, as much as I love the rolling green fields of Leicestershire there is something really special about the Peak District. Considering it is only 50 miles or so away the habitat is so different, masses and masses of lush thick heather, proper hills and gorges that are then segmented by the mile after mile of dry stone walls that disappear into the distance. And then there is the creme de la creme, dozens of old stone barns...........the homes of the owls!!!

Below are a few images all shot from my car of my latest find from this amazing area, my site No 175. 

The only image I managed with the sun coming from behind me, a blossoming owl!

The architecture on the next three images makes the shot a bit more interesting, shame the sun was in totally the wrong direction!!! 

I'm just going to have to spend a whole day in this area, mmmmmm wonder if the family fancy a mystery tour this weekend?????

Just cruising around.

After last nights near fatality with Daz, tonight I opted not to check out any of my boxes for breeding activity, instead I was just going to have a drive around a few sites to see if any owls were showing.

A distant haystack owl checks me out!

It came a little closer but still too far for any quality images.

Nice views were had of an owl in a roadside tree.

And this owl sat outside its nest hole on that lovely branch.

The light wasn't brilliant for photography tonight but that didn't matter as a few owls were seen and thank goodness there wasn't a ladder in sight!!!

Is it all worth it????

Last night was the perfect time to start monitoring my Little Owl sites for breeding activity, by now the hen birds should be well and truly in the advanced stages of laying their egg clutches. So Daz and I set off around 6.30pm with the intention of checking out around a dozen sites, the evening was to be a 50/50 split between checking nest boxes and natural cavities.

At the first site (a nest box near to Blaby) it looked to be good news, as we drove along the field edge approaching the box a Little Owl flew out of the hedgerow and up into a tree. I have never seen an owl in this location before, wow the evening had only just started and a new site (No 174)......get in there!!!

After the owl sighting we were expecting a great start, surely the owl we saw only 40 metres from the box had found it and set up home??? Whilst I stayed on the ground holding the ladders Daz went up to check it out, he opened the door and then relayed down to me that it was good news, 4 eggs and a chick but not Little Owl..........But a Great Tit!!!!!

Unperturbed we moved on, the second site was a natural cavity that I would have put money on was occupied by Little Owls.......it was empty and I would have lost a lot of cash!!!!

Things then looked up, at the third site, another of my boxes, great news both adult owls we in residence along with........3 EGGS!!!

Daz and I were now a bit more confident and we moved on to the fourth site, 8 eggs was the message, but not Little Owl but Great Tits........AGAIN!!!!!!

Below is an image of the box at the fourth site, almost identical to that of the box at the first site, absolutely crammed full of moss and other fine pieces of nesting material. Although it was disappointing and one starts to question if all the time and effort that has gone into making and erecting the boxes was worth it? Having said that you have to  admire the work rate of these little birds to fill a box of this size, they must have made thousands of visits!

The Biggest Tit Box in the Britain!  

That was it, we didn't want any more disappointments during the evening so the next site we visited was another of my boxes, I had seen owls emerging from it only a week or so ago so it has just got to be good news here.....well you would think so! This box was located quite high up in an old Ash tree, too high in fact for the ladder to fully reach, which meant the ladder was out to its full extent of around 24 feet and then you had to climb onto the tree to reach the box. As Daz has a better "head for heights" than me he elected to go up the ladder, oh how he now wishes he hadn't!!!!!!

Daz was as high as he could get and was about to step off the ladder when it COLLAPSED!!!! It was an agonising few split seconds watching him trying to hang onto the tree, he failed and he fell the full 24 feet!!! Luckily or unluckily, depends on which way you look at it he landed on top of the ladder which by now was straddled across a ditch. I had to jump into the ditch to help Daz get free from the mangled ladder and the very unforgiving Hawthorne bush which was branding some very nasty thorns of which a few were left deep in Daz!!! The ladder definitely broke his fall otherwise I fear we could have been looking at plenty of broken bones, or god forbid even worse...........????

The few images below just don't do justice of the severity of Daz's injuries, one can possible visualize the impact when you look at the last image!

Later on in the evening Daz did have to make a visit to the A & E department to have those deeply in bedded thorns removed, although he suffered some horrid injuries and is full of bruises a full recovery is expected......in time.

One now questions what could have been.......and is it all worth it???????????   

An Evenings Owling

It has been a really busy few days over the bank holiday period and getting out owling has proved difficult, I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms so this evening I sneaked off out for a few hours to hopefully make the most of the gorgeous late sun.

I was lucky and saw owls at several sites, I think the combination of the wind dropping slightly and a bit of evening sun definitely brought them out!

AP Magazine

A few weeks ago I had a phone call totally out of the blue, it was from a chap called Ollie and he represented the monthly national magazine, Amateur Photographer. He had been referred to my owlsaboutthatthen website and was very interested in my owl project and in particular my images!  He thought "my story so far" complemented with some of my pictures would make an excellent article for his magazine and something he thought his readers would be very interested in. 

So after a lengthy one to one interview with Ollie and loads and loads of emails going back and forth, today I received a pre-publication copy of this months magazine. Wow a four page spread with the added bonus of a small front cover image.....what a result!!!!

I have taken an image of each page of my feature (below) so as to give a feel for the article.

FRONT COVER

THE FEATURE,  PAGE'S 1-4

I have purposely made the images (above) low res so the text can't be read (I have to be fair to AP magazine) so if you would like to read the article please go and buy a copy, it is a superb magazine that is packed full of other really interesting features and articles on how to improve your photography......out on April 30th!!!!

Eastern Promises!

A couple of days ago I located four new Little Owl sites in a matter of an hour, an  almost unforgettable evening that I thought could never be matched, well this evening I nearly did just that!!!! I fell one site short though this time with only three new sites! I was over in the eastern part of Leicestershire again, an area that I have gone in search of Little Owls on two occasions and so far it has produced a very healthy SEVEN new sites.

Of the three sites located tonight one was a very brief encounter on a roadside fence, too quick for me to get an image, at another site there was a pair perched up in an old ash tree, the sun was shining straight at me so getting anything but a pair of silhouettes was impossible.

But the best site located today in terms of image opportunities was at an old barn that I stumbled upon not too far from the village of Owston (pronounce Ooston.). Below is an image of the barn taken from the car, looks good hey.......you bet it was! This type of habitat is just perfect for Little Owls so I wasn't surprised at all when I located a single bird hanging around inside it.

Home of the owl at new site No 172

I parked up and after a bit of fumbling around with my camo mesh and "black out screen" that I hand up at the windows it was time to settle down and play a waiting game. The location was perfect, the light levels were excellent so all I needed now to complete the scene was a showy owl. And boy o boy was he a showy owl, maybe the best I have ever encountered!

He first appeared on the roof, I think it must have been curious as to what I was, and what was I doing?

He soon gained some confidence to drop down a bit lower to take a closer look!

Then lower still!

At all times he kept a safe distance (about 20 feet) but I wasn't complaining, it was a perfect distance for near frame filling shots.

Eventually he came down to eye level, he was totally relaxed with me being there, or rather the car being there as there wasn't a chance he could see me, if he had of done he would of been off like a shot! Maybe it was the sound of the shutter on the camera that was drawing his attention?

As he moved from post to post I had a few chances of a "flight image", this was my best effort.

I think this is my favourite image from the hundred or so that I took.

He had a very hectic 30 minutes or so checking me out, eventually he just ignored me and had a snooze, that was my call to leave him alone and depart.

My running tally of sepearate Little Owl territoties has taken a massive leap forward over this last week and now stands at a whopping 173 sites! My target of 200 (it has been revised 4 times!) is still on for completion this year. Needless to say that I will be visiting the promised land of eastern Leicestershire again very soon, surely I can't keep up the average of three and a half new sites per visit?...........Or can I!!!!!!!

Late dash to Owl village!

Yesterday after work the evening weather was glorious, there was only one thing on my mind....owls!!! I nipped out into the local country side to see what owls were about and during my search between two known sites a brand new one was discovered!

A roadside tree that I have driven past on dozens of previous occasions produced the goods, goodness knows how I have never seen them before? Anyway, as you have possibly deduced there was a pair and they offered some good views and yes I managed a half decent image of both of them, come on in site No 167!

Owl No 1 site 167 

Owl No 2 site 167

Just before 6.00pm I arrived home and checked my emails, plenty of the usual junk and spam but the subject matter on one particular email caught my eye. It was from my good friend and LROS (Leicester Rutland Ornithology Society) member Ken Goodrich and it was about Little Owls. He and his wife Jean had seen a Little Owl that morning near to the village of Somerby, an area that so far I have never visited. A quick look at the clock, it was nearly 6.30pm, a quick calculation on time verses distance, it was going to be a close run thing if I was to get there before it got dark but that was it, I was in the car and on my way.

I followed Kens directions exactly and 30 minutes later I was sitting there in my car looking at a distant owl in a tree and my brand new site No 168.

Owl No 1 at site 168. 

Unintentionally I parked quite close to the nest tree, and a glance upwards produced the second owl at this site, nice close views but the light didn't allow for a great image.

Owl No 2 at site 168. 

It had been a good evening owling wise, two new sites and pairs at them both! It was now getting late, the owls had gone into hiding and the light was receding fast so it was time to head home. I retraced my tracks back through Somerby and on the other side of the village guess what??? Yep you guessed right, another Little Owl!!! This one couldn't be missed, it was sitting there on top of an old barn roof, I'm sure it must have been saying "here I am!!!". Although it was late I did manage this record shot (below), unfortunately that is as good as image as I could manage as it didn't come any closer. I'm not complaining though, how could I it was another new site!!

First image at new site No 169

I waited around at site No 169 but only the single owl was seen, wow what a night! I moved off and continued on my way home. After another half mile or so and still within the confines of the village of Somerby things started to get ridiculous, there in a roadside tree sat another pair of Little Owls!!! Oh my god this area was magic for owls, they were around every corner, almost dripping out of the trees!. The owls sat there in the tree looking at me whilst I fumbled around with my camera, it was just too dark for the auto focus to work, I had no choice but to switch to manual focus and flash. The resultant image is absolutely terrible, but believe me it was the best of a really bad bunch!

The pair of Little Owls at new site No 170

What more can be said about an absolutely stunning evenings owling, 4 new sites in a matter of a few hours and my personal tally takes a huge jump upto 170 sites. Thanks to Ken for the tip off on the first site, needless to say I shall be returning to Somerby or should it be Somowlsby again very soon, next visit I hope to find FIVE new sites........yeah righto!!!!!!