On Thursday my pal Titus and I went out for an afternoon's owling, pretty much on the same route that I'd taken on 5th March. Our first stop was at my LO Site No.29, where I'd been delighted to discover a pair on my previous visit - and the pair were out again, and sitting nicely side-by-side on the front side of the tree. Unfortunately, having stopped the car a hundred metres or so further down the road, one of the owls dipped back into the nest cavity before any photos were taken. The remaining owl, however, seemed to be totally unfazed by our presence.
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| Little Owl - my Site No.29 |
We next went to check on the Barn Owl site that I'd been concerned about. From the road we could see that things seemed to have settled down again and so left well alone.
Next we went to the location where, on 5th, I'd found two new LO sites adjacent to one of my recent sites, and had a look around. Although we didn't see any owls at this time, we were able to sort out the nest situation for one of these new sites, and a 'probable' for the second. As no owls were visible we decided on further exploration, and probably only just over a quarter of a mile (400 metres) away a Little Owl flew from beside the road as we approached, closely followed by another. One disappeared, but the other stayed around as we took photos through the car window - new LO Site No.38!
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| Little Owl - my new Site No.38 |
After this we explored a little more before heading back to the area of Sites 34, 36, 37, and now 38. The weather was closing in and getting cold, windy, and very dull, but that didn't stop one of the owls from Site No.36 from being very active around the distant nest tree. Eventually one of the owls from No.34 also showed in the nest cavity. No photos of any merit were taken, however.
As it was getting dark we set off to find somewhere to eat our sandwiches. We'd barely got any distance at all when a Little Owl flew out of a tree and down behind a hedge - new Site No.39. This gives me five Little Owl sites within an estimated one mile (1.5km) radius in an area that I first visited in January, and four new LO sites so far this month - an absolute record for me!
As I'd seen a LO on the way to Titus's place, this also gave me an afternoon's sighting of 8 Little Owls over 6 sites - not too bad for a cold breezy day! Pity the photo opportunities weren't so good!
Flipping heck Richard, at this rate you will soon be joining the "50" club, and no doubt if you keep finding them at the same frequency the magical figure of "ONE HUNDRED" will soon be yours!!!! Really well done buddy....
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul. Last year I only added 14 new LO sites to my list. So whilst 6 new sites so far this year isn't too bad, and joining the "50" club might be a possibility, I suspect I'll never reach the 100!
DeleteTheir pictures seems to attracted to you, beautiful photos of owls.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bob.
DeleteGosh, these are amazing photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you Gail
Deletevery, very cute!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteAwesom photos!
ReplyDeleteWell done!
Thank you Hans
DeleteI bet you still get really excited everytime you find a new site. Our farmer has had an owl box put up in his new barn, so I will keep an eye on it. From Findlay
ReplyDeleteYou've just no idea how excited I do get Findlay!! I find myself calling the bird things like "you little beauty", etc. and singing to myself on the way home!
DeleteBest of luck with the Barn Owl box - please do keep us posted with any results. Best not to let on where it is, however!
Wow! owls are so beautiful. Great pics.
ReplyDeleteThank you Amanda
DeleteThe owls are beautiful and it must be great to find so many nesting sites within such a close area.
ReplyDeleteIt's really exciting for me to have found this area. I hope to be spending a lot more time here. However, my find on Monday (see my next post) is possibly going to be even more attractive!
DeleteBeautiful shots of the owls, this one is so cute.
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen
DeleteCute shots of these Little Owls. They are adorable!
ReplyDeleteThank you Eileen.
DeleteOh my goodness, what fabulous photos of these little guys!
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen for your kind words.
DeleteYour ability to summon owls would have had you burnt at the stake in the past! Me, I'm just jealous!
ReplyDeleteCheers and thanks for linking to WBW.
Stewart M - Melbourne
Thank you Stewart. I'm only a neophyte compared to some people, however!
DeleteReally great close ups!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gary. Best wishes to you and Boomer!
DeleteThe pose in the first image is brilliant, Richard.
ReplyDeleteThank you Christian. I must admit that I prefer the second image as it shows the profile of the bird, rather than the more usual (for me, anyway) head-on image.
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