A new pair of Little Owls have bred on a site close to home this year, making that 4 out of 5 species having nested recently - hopefully Barn owl will complete the set next year.
Long-eared Owl - 350 metres away
audio of juvenile Long-eared Owl - 10 metres away
This, the youngest of the brood still remains close to the natal site, whilst the rest of the family of 5 head out to hunt.
There wasnt a sight or sound from them at 20:30-21:00 -
At this stage in development, the young are far more alert & will fall silent even without prompting from the adults.
but when i came past when heading home in the gloom at 22:30 it was calling regularly from the pathside.
I was within 5metres of it, before it flew off, only to circle around me silhouetted in the light sky to the north.
It landed & continued begging imediately - then again flew up & circled around me as i was walking off away from it - amazing & quite humbling to be "checked-out" in this way.
quite different scenario to when i bumped into in the daylight one early evening during the week - it made off into cover & stayed silent for at least 15mins - despite me moving well out the way.
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Earlier bumped in Spuggy Kay, a couple of Noctule Bats overhead in good light at 20:45, dropping vertically from time to time while feeding, a couple more of them mixing in with a flock of Swallows.
Later a Kestrel (un-aged) made 3 failed strikes at one of these large bats - they evaded the falcon with ease, acrobatically turning through sharp angles to continue their feeding. Remarkably, it or another Kes was still active zipping past in the dark at 22:20.
Small nos of Swifts remaining over breeding sites, although many have already moved on.
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Welcome news from Coln got me out for an hour - weekend birding is a rare commodity these days.
NB: Some of the images below are mine, some are copyright of John Bridges - wonder if you can guess which are which ................ ?
short clip
the near capacity Lyons crowd
CW RR & Mr Charlton Snr
superbly cammo-ed
Thanks again to JBee for some propa pitchas
