On the eastern side.

Considering the poor weather conditions in the last week or so it hasn't been too bad for owl watching. Most sites I visited yielded nothing, and that wasn't really a surprise with the persistent westerly gales of late. However the odd site was productive and in every case it was a matter of locating the birds on the sheltered/eastern side of a hedgerow.   

Due to the high winds the birds were reluctant to move which resulted in getting nearer than normal. In all cases the images were attained from the mobile hide (the Landrover), which was good as it offered some nice photo opportunities (images below).

 

 

Another expulsion!

During last nights venture out one of the owls allowed me some really close up views, during this period I took the opportunity to experiment with a few different camera settings. I was attempting to achieve a shallow depth of field where the owls eyes are in focus and the rest of its body and the background is nicely diffused (out of focus). 

This owl was a perfect subject, it just perched there doing.......well nothing! Whilst I was trying out a few different things it started twitching in an unusual manner, it seemed to be gasping for a breath and kept opening it's beak, it was at this stage I realised it was regurgitating a pellet!

I just kept my finger on the shutter and rattled off a sequence of around 25 images, in this image (below) the tip of the pellet can just be seen!

Here it comes.....

A quick shake of the head.......

And pop.........out it came!

Gales!

Geeez, now that's what I call a windy day, normally conditions like this are absolutely useless for seeing owls, I nearly didn't bother going out last night, but there are always exceptions to the rules! 

My site No 87 was where I finally saw an owl, it was located huddled low down in the bottom of a hedgerow keeping  out of the gales. I couldn't managed a clear shot because of the wire fence in the foreground!

In time a total of five owls showed themselves, they were very confiding too. At least four of them were juveniles from this years brood. They seemed to be more focused on keeping out of the wind than they were of my presence! They spent most of their time sitting on the fence posts that were on the sheltered side of the hedgerow.

Below is an image of each one of the five owls (I think!).

Just before I left the wind got up to howling proportions, it was at this stage that three of the owls dropped down to the bottom of the hedgerow to gain more protection, shame about the wire in the way as it would have made a rather nice image!

Out owling....

The last few days here in Leicestershire has been foul weather wise, consequently no blog updates! I have still been getting out most evenings but nothing has been seen, well no owls that is! But tonight things improve somewhat, the conditions still weren't idea but the nasty wind had abated which surely meant I'd see some owls?

The chosen location was a strip of private land near to the village of South Wigston, here I monitor three different well established Little Owl sites that are in close proximity to each other. I regularly make a sighting or two of an owl but tonight there was nothing showing, at any of them! I decided to try searching further a field and just as I had about given up seeing anything an owl was sighted, and it was in an area I'd never seen one before! 

It was sitting on the side of an electricity pylon, I couldn't get a clear image of it because it was partially obscured by the barbed wire that stops any would be idiot climbing up it!

I quickly surveyed the area and to the right of the pylon was a thick hedgerow with a couple of exposed fence posts in front of it. I opted to manoeuvred the Landrover parallel to the posts and waited. Luckily it wasn't spooked and eventually my gamble paid off as it dropped down onto the furthest of the posts, a clear and unobstructed image was then attained.......thank you Mr owl!

It then flew past me and landed in a pollarded Willow Tree about 50 yards behind me, I waited a while for it to return but it seemed quite settled where it was, the light was starting to fade so it was time to run the risk of spooking it and move again.

I slowly reversed up and repositioned at the edge of the tree, during the backing up I lost sight of the owl, I wasn't sure if it had flown off? I needn't have worried though as I soon relocated it again, on the other side of the tree! I wasn't prepared to run the risk spooking it again so I stayed put. My patience paid off when it moved nearer to me,  it was still obscured by a vertical limb but then it peered around it and the below image was achieved.

It then seemed to forget about me being there and hopped to a different branch in full view, it was totally relaxed and only gave me the occasional glance. I am particularly pleased with the outcome of the resultant image, the setting sun can be seen reflecting in its eyes.

Things then got even better, it was joined by a second owl!

Soon after this they both flew back up to the pylon, that was my signal to vacate. It was great to be back out there seeing owls again, especially when it was a brand new site, No 194...........get in there!!!!!

Owlers' Blog Network

For anyone out there, who like me have an affinity for anything to do with owls then this new blog could be for you! My good friend Richard Pegler has set it up and he is trying to unite all like minded souls and get them to share their own experiences and blogs/websites that are in a similar vein.

Why not take a look by clicking on the image above or on the link, below. It is obviously in it's infancy at the moment but in time it should prove to be a quality and informative site.

 

Owl Blog Network

Still there!

Following last Monday's poor "owling day" I needed a more reliable site to visit, so last night I pinned all my hopes on site No 154, with a bit of luck the two juveniles will still be hanging around?

The light was poor, it was overcast and grey but no wind, just about perfect for seeing owls but not that good for photography? The juveniles here can be regularly seen in and around a huge pile of old timber (a yet to be lit bonfire), and tonight they duly obliged........again!

As I pulled up they were accidentally flushed from the pile, but I needn't have worried as they were soon back! I stayed well concealed in the car and consequently some wonderful close up views were had as they clambered around, at times they came within 10 feet of me! I made the most of the opportunity and completely filled a 8GB card, some 260 images! 

I haven't had time yet to go through all the images, but below is a selection of some that I have so far processed.....

The moral of the story, wait for a nice still evening and the owls will do the rest!

Bank holiday blues!

Up and out by 5.50am on Monday morning, the weatherman had predicted a glorious day and I'd been granted a pass out until early afternoon, superb nearly a whole days owling and for what???

I may of well spent the Bank Holiday with the rest of the population pulling my hair out and moaning whilst sitting in lengthy traffic queues whilst attempting to visit a local attraction of some kind. But no, I opted to sit in my Landrover for a whopping 8 hours for two very brief owl sightings! The weather was crappy, intermittent showers complemented with a constant breeze made the conditions for seeing the owls very poor indeed. It is always a bit slow seeing owls post breeding season but this was so bad I was wishing at times that I too was having a glorious time in some motorway grid lock.

Anyway, that's my rant over.......am I getting a bit cantankerous? The two birds that did show were both sheltering out of the wind, they just sat there looking rather cosy. Neither of them ventured out, they were obviously not as stupid as me.

First owl of the day, site No 105 near to South Wigston, it only took it four hours to put in an appearance, and all it did then was poke its head out!

Yeah you just stay in there.....Mr warm owl!

The second owl of the day, site No 16 near to Kilby was a fleeting glimpse too, but at least it had the decency to show a bit more of itself. A good sighting though, as I thought the owls here had gone, no sightings since February! My mate Nigel said he saw an owl here a couple of weeks ago so after investigating it proved he was quite correct, I bet he didn't wait for over 3 hours though!

Quite a tatty looking individual?

Early Morning.

I managed to sneak out for a couple of hours this morning, I do have to make the most of any window of opportunity I get and today it meant getting up early and out (and back!) before the rest of the clan had even got out of bed!

I went over to see what has been going on at my site No 105 near to South Wigston, due to the remoteness of this location is its an absolute must that I go in the Landrover, something I haven't for a good few weeks now because I couldn't be bothered to tax it!

During the two hours on location only a single bird was seen, a very showy but all to distant juvenile. The light levels were just perfect and along with the defused backdrop it made for a couple of images I'm rather pleased with. 

There is obviously something in this early morning lark, not that I am prepared, or even capable of doing it on a regular basis though.......the beer the night before soon puts paid to thatt!!!

A walk down the lane....

After indulging myself somewhat over the top on my recent trip to the USA, the waistline has now grown to near obese proportions! It didn't matter how much I tried to suck the massive overhang in, the full length mirror didn't lie, the message was loud and clear, diet and exercise!!!!

So as to turn over a new leaf I needed a life style change........no beer and plenty of walking! Therefore, I decided to have a gentle walk this evening, I know that doesn't seem too arduous but for someone who just drives everywhere it was a "BIG DEAL"! Now not wanting to waste an opportunity, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone, I'll take my camera with me and do some owling. 

I ended up down a very quiet back lane near to Willoughby, it felt kind of surreal parking the car up and walking away from it! Anyway, as I "power-walked" my way down the lane I came to my Little Owl site No 103, I was beginning to tire (must have walked a good half a mile) so it was time to take a breather.

I lent on a field gate and surveyed the area, there was a flutter in a nearby tree, it was one of the resident Little Owls, my first sighting here since October 2010! It didn't hang around long, I think the massive blob leaning on the gate scared it off, but not before I managed an image!

Little Owl site No 103.

Nothing much more was seen whilst I puffed and panted my way along the lane, nothing that is until I heard a Little Owl alarm call, and it was in an area that I hadn't seen one before! By now I was completely knackered so I sat down on the grass verge and had a rest. I wasn't sure exactly where the call came from so I sat quietly an waited for it to call again. Then I saw it, it was up high in a nearby tree watching me! I managed a quick shot (below) before it moved out of sight. 

At the time it was too early to say if this was a new site or not, it could well of been a juvenile moving away from its natal site? After later studying the image I am now quite confident that the owl in question is an adult and not a juvenile.....get in there new site 193!

Little Owl at new site No 193.  

So I suppose this new regime does have it's good points, a new Little Owl site and after one good walk I'm at least 10 pounds lighter, not sure how the "no beer" will go though!!

Finish at the Start!

Today, weather wise it was an abysmal day here in Leicestershire, however the early evening skies started to clear somewhat and the sun poked through......occasionally. That was the excuse I was looking for, the kit was loaded and I was out! I'd planned to visit several Little Owl sites in the eastern part of Leicestershire, but due to how the evening unfolded I soon discarded watching the owls in favour of searching for another species of bird?

I was near the Langton's (a scattering of small villages north of Market Harborough), I settled down at the chosen owl site near to a huge pile of timber (a yet to be lit bonfire). I knew the resident owls liked to sit in amongst the pile when the sun was out, and this evening they duly obliged!

A 30 minute wait and they appeared.

After a while the sun disappeared behinded yet another blanket of clouds, doohhh!! But that was when the action started, the owls gave up on their sunbathing and started to move in and around the bonfire. The light wasn't so good but it was a small price to pay as they were offering some interesting photo opportunities, which is unusual for Little Owls as normally they are very static and very boring!

Whilst they stayed down low in the bonfire getting the correct exposure wasn't too much of a problem, but when they opted to go up higher the horrid grey backdrop made things extremely difficult, where's the blue sky when you need it?

The high level of activity soon slowed down though, the owls had made their way back up to the top of the pile and just sat there! I was just thinking about moving on when, hang on what the hell was that just behind the owls??

Strange bird in the background.

I refocused on the mystery bird.......Bloody hell it was a Common Redstart!!!!

I have only ever seen a Common Redstart in Leicestershire on a handful of previous occasions, let alone ever photographed one!!! Wow this was so unexpected, I deserted the owls and spent the next hour or so trying to relocate it..........to no avail!

So I will have to do with this very poor image, (below) a heavily cropped portion from the image above.

I would say this bird is a juvenile male, and contray to the name, (Common Redstart) they are definitely not that common here in Leicestershire! They are a summer visitor to the UK and are normally seen when they make a "feeding pit stop" whilst en route to their breeding grounds in the spring, or on their return journey to Africa where they over winter.

So all in all a pretty eventful evening, and I bet there isn't many people in the world that can boast a Little Owl and a Redstart in the same image........... 

Bird On A Wire!

This afternoon I visited a local Little Owl site near to Willoughby, my intention was to hopefully see some juveniles and photograph them before they start to disperse.

I'd been parked up around and an hour and no images were possible, the owls were there all right because I could see them through the hedgerow, there was at least three of them and they were sheltering out of the breeze on some fence posts!!

My patience finally ran out and I went to see the landowner of the field where the owls were. Pemission was soon granted for access (thank you!), I adopted a very slow approach as I didn't want to spook the owls! My cagey tactics finally paid off as I'd got into a position where I wasn't too far from where the owls were. It was now a waiting game and over the next four hours they came pretty close at times.  

Juvenile No 1

Juvenile No 2 & Dad

Juvenile No 3

Juvenile No 4

A balancing act and on one foot.....what a show off!

Just goes to show that the grass can be greener on the other side of the fence, well this time it was anyway!

No owls?

A quick run out before going to the pub last night, no owls were showing at the site I visited? It wasn't surprising though as this menacing chap was surveying the area!

Common Buzzard