Bng / Leo / Noctules / Kes

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

Hot air / advanced Leo juvs

Got in today & "she" has installed a new device to catch me out . . .

No longer will i be able to blame the dog . . . .

it is of course an airports infrared camera

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Had a couple of hours Sunday evening

still half a dozen Groppers reeling - some in new spots compared with earlier visits - one showing itself clearly on top of a wild rose

Long-eared owl family active - couple of the youngsters now over 200m from the nest site & flying superbly, wheeling & swooping - 1 making a feint & dropping as if to make a strike in the grass, only to pull up at the last moment.
Still havnt perfected the landings though - a couple of "bounce -offs".
 Theyre still prefering the more open Elderberry & dead thorn trees as opposed to the "springy" leaf clad Hawthorns.
Some scum came by shouting on & hoyying cans - the juvs quit begging without any need of a prompt from the adults.
They stayed quiet for a good 10 mins, then started begging again.
Quite a relief to actually see some young have managed to get right up this year.
A couple more weeks then they'll become hard to locate as the begging stops.

Grounded Asio

Otus juvenile on the ground, Co.Durham July 2010

Blogged this from Flickr - copyright Tow Law Wildlife

Greedy Beggars

Very nice selection of recent Leo images from John Bridges at  :-

 http://northeastwildlife.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=348

http://northeastwildlife.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=348

Long-eareds Summer 2010

As previously mentioned, a very poor breeding year, but this youngster out & about a week or 2 ago near Durham

images by Dave.A

also recent sightings from Hamsterley area - hopefully a few more Nightjar visits will reveal further breeding success . . .

All Nighter 31st June / 1st July - BO-vs-LEO

The bairn was a'bed early on, so out in good time.

Went to have a look at the new Long-eared site in the Wear
i drove up the bank with window wound down
could hear the young bird calling close to the road.

Only parking was a bit gateway a good way up the bank top
as i strolled back down, a large brown shape appeared - a Buzzard carrying prey

the unseen adult Long-eared let out a loud alarm call as it approached & the youngster fell silent,
as the Buzzard landed close by.
i stayed tucked in the dyke back, still a good way off & out of sight - but evern after 20 mins the juv never called again.

this wait did pay dividends though with brief views of a Hobby - ive seen more of this species in Durham in the last 2 years as i have in the last 20.

Further down the valley another spot held a beggging youngster
The estate must have gone into some kind of agri-environ scheme as the grazing densities are absolutely minimal

Looks like these 2 new Leo pairs have been quick to take advantage - there was no sign of them over the last few year.

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Highlights
Park & Ride, D'ham City: - Barn owl hunting adjacent & Badger foraging on paths on edge of car park 22:30

pr of Roe Deer standing in the road at first light & 2 Fox over the roads during the night.

Barn owls with young on the wing at a couple of spots early this morning, seems to be a good year.

This is 4-6 weeks earlier than usual & bodes well


& the Lowlights
checked 12 regular Long-eared owl pair last night in a Derwentside stronghold, (plus drive-by speculative checks) revealing only 2 sets with young !!!

They seem to be having an even worse season than 2009 ( which was the poorest i can recall )

A poor year, but there are some young Long-ears out there . . .

image of a Derwentside youngster by David Kay.

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This seems an odd situation to say the least & is highlighted in the site with "side by side "Barnie & Longie

The Barn owl is an absolute machine, in & out with prey non stop -
the Long-eared with its young 15m away only managing 4 items an hour at best.

Both birds hunting over the same ground / habo

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Young Barn owl "doing" Garden Knome

Watched it 20 mins & it never recieved a food item despite begging - both the adults were taking prey in for its younger siblings still in the nest chamber.

Eventually it saw me & fluttered closer

couple of bits down still on its head

here it contemplates a flight . . .

& off he goes . . .