Show Starter

A couple of trips to Hamsterley between the downpours at the start of the week:-
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As soon as this forest edge Tawny moved off, the show began & the first male Nightjar appeared in good light - sadly, i fluffed all the photo opportubities, but the birds put on a superb display, 4 males, 2 females & at least 2 fledged juvs. (different size, shape & weak flyers)
Earliest i heard churring was 8:10pm - although this burst may have been in responce to the prescence of a Jay near the nest area.

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#Clip, male Nightjar circling above us, moves off contact calling "goo-ick" & flies on, persued by a fledged juvenile.

Nightjar going away

# Camera phone image of 1 going past 15' away - taken well after the light had gone @ 10:40pm

A couple of fledged juvenile Nighjars were flying around , occasionally begging, with one crash landing into a tree !
Also begging were fledged Woodcock young ( couple of ads still roding )trailing adults & Green Woodpecker with fledged young too:-

One Nest site was close to the track :-

Fragment of hatched Njar egg

Sing for ya Supper

Checked up on the 2nd clutch pair
female still sitting tightly & not making a sound - a mob of noisy young Crows were close by.
Her mate came in high from a good way off, hearing the corvids, he not only dropped but snuck into the edge of the wood & continued in, i just glimpsed him on his way to the nest tree - moments later the crows were all up...
i didnt see, but presume he scattered them, as 3 flew out from cover adjacent to the nest tree.

Later he came in & followed a similar pattern - high approach, steep decent close to the wood & into the far end ( last years nest site, where young were stolen from the nest) - where the Tawny was calling, within moments it was calling again from 50metres away, whilst the male Long-eared came back out of the plantation where he had entered & continued on a direct course to the nest.

Ive had Tawnies & Long-eareds using the same woods for years & years - often the Long-eareds will switch ends (possibly in responce to available nests ?) & as such initial visits suggest that the Leos appear to have vacated the territory.... more often than not this is not the case - theyre simply more mobile than those fat old Brown owls.

No images from me on this one.....
so i'll leave you to savour a snap from one the the regions most talented wildlife camera-men, 'The Gin-Trap Ninja'.

Plenty more in his gallery, but this one is a bit special :-

 

Spot of Lunch at Lanchester - Canny gob-full there marra.

Enjoy more djohnson images by clicking here.

Artificial nest - 2 young close to fledging

A series of images showing how young Long-eared's attempt to defend themselves while in the nest.

The eldest youngster quickly jumped up onto the rim of the nest tub & took up a defensive posture - ive noticed that on taking up this stance the birds initially close their eyes for a short spell - as if to confuse any would be predators.

who've we got here then......

 A closer view

After a few moments they settled down

Side on view - at this point, one of the adults flew into view - the youngster seemed to forget about his peace being interupted, a good time to head off & leave them to it.

Female sitting on rim of nest.

Long-eared Owl youngster enjoying the sun

Some pics of a youngster enjoying a bit sunshine :-

A fat sleeping lump

Giving a passing Willow Tit the evil-eye

Waiting for the end of the day.....

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Yesterday evening visited a country estate on edge of Durham City

A pair of Long-eareds with 3 young out & about - the eldest an accomplished flier - its siblings not quite as skilful - one hanging from rabbit-netting fencing, beating its wings furiously untill it clambered to the top, the other doing its best to perch on the top strand of barb wire - comical to watch.
A couple of roding Woodcock & Little Owl with inquisitive juvs out of the nest too.

juv Little Owl - spotted me at 80 yards

Leo ringing visit

This pair were visited recently, the young were too small for ringing. They are on average around 4 weeks behind compared with other birds in the County -

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Mr Grumpy
 (hes the middle one in the nest)

The smallest of the 3.
Cute isnt a word i thought id ever use on this blog...........

Many thanks to a local owler for the 2 images above.

heres a Little Owl :-

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and another 3 in a box - just about ready to go....

Rub-a-Dub-Dub - Owls in a Tub

An invitation to inspect a location with Long-eareds utilising an artificial nest Tub.

 

nest Tub in Scots Pine @ 40' above the ground

Two Long-eared Owlets in a sturdy & safe nest - these are used by a variety of other species, from Kestrel to Wood Pigeon !

These 2 remain from a clutch of 5 eggs - both were bill clacking, the large one rocking & swaying - after a few moments the small individual made a series of begging calls.

Other larger raptors use this area, & interestingly, the adult birds, although watching us, made no vocalisations at all - perhaps not wanting to draw any attention to themselves or the nest.

Also of note, the body plumage of these birds is more advanced than we usually find at this stage.

This tub contained 3 adult flight feathers

Two images showing comparison between Long-eared & Tawny feathers :-

Long-eared Left - Tawny Right

Tawny Left - Long-eared Right.

An interesting & informative visit - Many thanks to local nest-boxer JW.

Branching out

Heres a couple of images of a bird not long out of the nest, @ 28 days old.

Even at this early age, this recently branched youngster tries to avoid detection. Drawing himself up as tall as possible & then remaining perfectly still.

As we got closer the owlet began bill clacking, rocking sideways plumping out with body plumage & wings.

puffing itself up to appear as large as possible & closing eyes

I dont know if its more comical than it is intimidating!

means business - rocking & swaying with more bill-clacking, fluffed right out & beginning to show flight feathers.

Big & scarey !
Flight feathers on show - it was time for us to go...


We saw the male, keeping watch from the sidelines :-

A similar scenario at another location on an evening visit :-

 1 of 3 young here, not much to hide behind, but still managing to blend in with its surroundings.

The female was sitting close at hand in full view- id been watching this area for 15mins, before i noticed her ! & the best of the evenings light had gone.
During that time i was wondering why i wasnt hearing any begging calls from the juvs - she was obviously aware of me & shut them up..... i took this image of her doing her best to avoid detection & headed off.

another cool evening

A cool damp evening with limited activity
Males off out hunting, branched young remaining within & begging from the natal area with females in close attendance - one repeating an odd low rasping note whilst she sat on watch waiting for her mates return.
As the light went we went to leave, enjoying open, close range views of the female attending to one of her youngsters - even at this young age the youngster knowing when to remain silent & still to help avoid detection.

Digi-binned shot of calling female awaiting her mates return

phone-image of male circling around us checking us out before continuing his hunt

Very little else to report other than good numbers of Swifts, only 1 Noctule bat, no sight nor sound of any other owl species.

Ringing visit

Some images of  Long-eared Owl chicks from ringing visits :-

Long-eared @2wks old

small broods this year

Quite a difference between the two - the eldest bill clacking& having bright eyes

In Safe hands - Should have been a goalie !

2 older chicks, @2.5 wks old back in the nest after ringing.

and a Little Owl chick:-