Confimed Pairs of Little Owls - on 2nd February, 2013

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Owling having been virtually completely eliminated during the latter half of January, due to wet and windy weather with poor light, I was determined to do better on Saturday as, although it was quite breezy, the sun was shining brightly. Ever hopeful of getting better views of the Little Owl at my Site No.31 in Calke Park. that's where I headed. Arriving just before 9.00 I had a good look round, but couldn't spot the owl, so settled in to watch and photograph some of the other birds there (possibly to feature in a future post). Half an hour later, I was out looking for the owl again, and had it spotted. However, for once, it was in a reasonably accessible place. What is more, there were two of them! I'd once suspected that, out of the corner of my eye, I'd seen a second owl fly between two trees, but here was confirmation.

A stealthy approach got me the two owls in the same frame but not, unfortunately, in the same focal plane. The view was also a bit too obscured by branches, as you can see below.

Little Owl - my Site No.31

A further tangential approach brought the owls into approximately the same focal plane, but somewhat more separated in position. However, I'm delighted to have managed images of a pair of owls here.

Little Owls - my Site No.31

These images were taken when I was still at quite a distance. A further attempt at approach failed, probably not helped by having another photographer following me (you can see that the left hand owl is looking at him whilst the right hand one is looking at me) and a vehicle bumbling around just behind us. They flew!

I spent some more time with the other birds, and then relocated the owls, separated and in less photogenic locations, although nearer. You can see that the second one, below, looks quite relaxed!

Little Owl - my Site No.31

As I'd taken something over four hundred shots by now, I set off home for lunch, with a view to going out in the afternoon.

Armed with a picnic, I set off at around 14.30 and headed off to the east, as there was a talk at Rutland Water that I fancied attending. I stopped at a couple of my Little Owl sites on the way, but didn't have any luck. It was getting a little more breezy, and the clouds were coming in too.

I stopped at my most recently found LO site (the first time I'd been back since I found it), but nothing was visible. I hung around for about an hour, chatted to a few passers-by, and went to investigate other possible trees in the vicinity, but only succeeded in putting up a male Sparrowhawk which fled along a stream bed.

I was just approaching my car with a view to departing, as it was getting dark, when I noticed an owl had appeared in the hole where I'd previously seen it. It looked vaguely strange until I realised that there was another owl lurking behind it!

Unfortunately, for reasons that I won't go into, it's not currently possibly to make any sort of stealthy approach - but I have a cunning plan for some time in the future! Watch this space, as I feel that this site may eventually yield some nice images. In the mean time here are some heavily cropped record shots, taken at 1/50 second and 1600 ISO, which (just about) show the two birds.

Little Owls - my Site No.34

As it was nearly dark, and no further meaningful photography would be possible, I went to a spot about three miles down the road with some tasty-looking buildings. I was sitting with my window open so I could see the buildings, chewing on a sandwich, when this thing flashed by my elbow less than 3ft (1m) from me. Next thing I knew was that it had settled on a stump about 2ft (0.6m) off the ground and less than 6 ft (2m) from me. It was a male Sparrowhawk!. I just had to sit and watch it as it was too dark to photograph, photography through the closed windows of my Smart is virtually impossible, and mainly because it was too close for my lens to focus on! - I did try!

The excitement didn't end there, however, as only a few minutes after it had departed, a Barn Owl flew out of one of the buildings, landed in the field in front of the building, and then did a short flight into what I believe was a stream (for a drink?). A few minutes later it was off, flying away from me. This is a place where I should have no difficulty in setting up my hide unobtrusively, and at a (legally) safe distance that will not disturb the owls. If this was later in the year, it could just be a male roost, but at this time of year I suspect that I've found a nest site. I will not be entering the building to investigate, however! This will be done via distant observation.

I never did get to the talk at Rutland Water - there's only so much excitement that one can take in a day!