After a short spell of territorial advertisement from the male,
Male Leo 'singing' , unusually it was the female who was first out.
She then called for 2-3 mins before flying to the thorns at the edge of the plantation. Female Long-eared Owl contact calling
She continued calling every 7 or 8seconds for a short while untill a gentle tapping came closer..
The tapping became louder as the male came over in his wing-clapping display flight, approx 5m overhead.
Male Long-eared Wing-Clapping
Long-eared Owls by Stevieevans
I watched him continue with exaggerated floating wing-beats, silhouetted against the light polloution to the east.
She continued called regularly for 15 mins while he was out of sight - he then returned, the muffled tapping of his wings clearly audible from some distance in the calm air.
I drew a blank at another site, the third i checked in passing on the way home - hearing both male & female, but seeing nothing.
A meagre offering from late this afternoon :-
I shall follow this up by posting some details of the non-intrusive methods i have used in Co.Durham during the late winter / early spring period to locate Leo's over the past 2 decades. This systematic method has helped several owlers find Long-eareds on their own local patches- in some cases the species having been their "bogey bird" for decades.
(cant get 2 of those sound files to work..yet)
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Recent series of wet nights resulting in a daylight hunting Barnie at home yestday.
A roadside Tawny just the wrong side of the Met Boro boundary as i drove along the Seaham/Ho'ton road @ 21:30 last night.
