Yesterday saw a quick trip down to Oare Marsh in Kent. Arriving early we enjoyed a quartering Barn Owl and a Little Owl with a pair of Marsh Harrier along with the usual waders, Egrets and ducks. We heard a Turtle Dove calling in the distance and eventually picked it up sitting in the trees […]
Tag: Barn Owl
Country diary: a trapped hunter, rescued and returned to the wild
It was on Boxing Day that the two boys found her. A flash of cream among field rushes, she had a wing caught in a fence and was flapping wildly to break free. A female barn owl. They carried her to a garden shed, leaving water and a pheasant carcass from which she ate. Clearly […]
Snowy Owl Snettisham
I tried to take the old fella for the Owl yesterday but he had other plans so we put the trip on hold until this morning. We set off at 5am and arrived at the coast around 7am stopping briefly to tick Fulmar from Hunstanton Cliffs and to grab a shot of an obliging Barn […]
New Year – Barn Owl
It had been a long time since I had seen a barn owl so it was a nice surprise to find a hunting barn owl during my recent travels. I was travelling the back roads and quiet lanes in the Pilling and Cockerham area. The barn owl was very active and it was a challenge […]
Best ever DAY ONE count
With the better weather forecast for Norfolk that was our destination for the day one count. Starting with Barn Owl and ending wit a lovely Grey Male Hen Harrier we had a cracking day. Shore Lark at Holkham, Twite at Thornham, Snow Buntings at Salthouse and Cattle Egret at Stiffkey were the four main targets […]
Andaman Islands – 29th November (Day 5)
Today we were up at 03:45 for a 04:15 departure from our hotel in Port Blair with a limited number of endemic birds to see. We headed back to the Government Secondary School in Port Blair to try for Barn Owl of the endemic subspecies deroepstorffi. Arriving just as the sun was rising we waited […]
The Levante winds of Spring – Spain 2017
I lead a tour group from the the US Audubon Naturalist Society in April to southern Spain. We had a great time apart from the awful windy weather. The famous Levante wind just would not stop for almost the whole eight days. We did however have a great time, saw lots of birds and other […]
Is ‘Baiting’ an ethical way to photograph wild owls?
Owls make for stunning photography subjects thanks to their unique appearance and air of perpetual astonishment, but they’re also the source of a hot debate in the wildlife photography community. The main point of contention? “Baiting,” or the practice of putting out mice or other treats to draw the birds of prey closer. I first […]
Catching a few ticks in Tuddenham
Saturday saw me going solo down at Elmley while the Jims enjoyed Vange Marshes Stilts. I had good but brief views of a day flying Barn Owl, a Peregrine hunting the marshes with several Buzzards and Marsh Harriers. Hares were putting on a show and the mating rituals of Lapwing and Redshank were in full […]
Marsh Harrier and Short-eared Owls at Elmley NNR
I took a drive down to Elmley this afternoon after work thinking it’s as good a place as any to clear the head after a very hard week of chasing numbers. I spent two hours there with little to note other than singing Skylarks, Lapwings and a few Redshank before it all kicked off. First […]
