Patch SCOPS Day 2 !

What an unbelievable surprise
Great find by Tom Middleton
1st for Durham
1st Twitchable in UK for a decade
1st on North East coast for 100 year

Refound this am by a visitor from Pontefract, who picked it up being mobbed by 2 Magpies.

Steady stream of people, perfect conditions, all visitors well behaved.

Great twitch - nice folk there from as far afield as Scotland & Kent

Eviction update and daylight Barn Owl !

Having lost their spot in a roost tree to a Tawny, the "evicted" Long-eareds have only moved @ 25metres

They dont seem too put off and have been calling n displaying as usual at dusk.

A rare treat for us Up in Weardale, when we happened upon a day-time hunting Barn Owl !
by far the most difficult species to catch sight of across much of the County.

It landed in a tree and i managed a digi-binned record-ish shot!

The next field across held an old barn and obvious signs of who's occupying it  :-

 1,000's of pellets here - including several big fresh black ones
This site is moorland edge , at over 400 m / als, with pockets of snow in the shady dyke-backs - its pleasing to know Barn oels are still present after 2 previous bad snowy winters.