A Season For Barn Owls

With my last post in April time I have some catching up to do, so here is a flashback to mid spring and early June of this year. After the failures last year nationwide, 2014 seems to have been a very successful year for breeding Barn Owls and none more so than locally throughout the Test Valley.

I shall set the scene for you if you haven’t read one of my rambling blog posts before. I am lucky enough to live in a tiny hamlet which is sandwiched between the ever serene and beautiful chalk stream of the River Test and the vibrant ancient woodland of the nearby Harewood Forest. With sprawling farmland and quiet expanses of water meadow throughout the river valley, the area offers a bountiful habitat for any vole feeding predator. Kestrels are regular breeders and this year was no exception, Tawny Owls are also present in good numbers but this habitat also suites the silent winged ghost the Barn Owl.

2014 saw 2 Barn Owl pairs nesting nearby, one using an artificial nest box the other a wooden barn. The nests were no more than 700 metres apart from one another, an occurrence which seemed a bit alien to me, with both nests so close I was sure that both pairs of owl’s territories would easily encroach upon one another, with each Owls hunting range covering a far bigger area that 700 metres. Would this cause issues? Would there be enough food for both pairs to raise a successful brood? Gnawing at my mind a little I had to turn to the only trusted source we seem to rely on in the world these days ‘Google’.... and although each website had a slightly different take on how big an Owls home range would be. Each had the same answer for me; ‘Barn Owls are not particularly territorial and often live in overlapping home ranges’ something my bird books at home also seemed to back up a pretty clear answer to my first question.

My thoughts on prey shortages proved to be nothing more than a forgotten worry, as each pair raised a successful brood. The pair in the artificial nest box fledging 4 healthy looking chicks. I was lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time watching these noisy owlets from a neighbour’s garden two or three times a week for the duration of June. At the start of the month the adult birds would drop in with a fresh kill causing a frenzy of hissing and scrabbling from inside the box, each time a white fluffy head would appear briefly in the opening. By the end of the month four juvenile birds had fledged, dropping back down every now and then on to the nest box from the leafy branches above to be fed. Gangly, awkward and lacking the elegant aerial grace of their parents who were still tirelessly feeding them.

As a schedule one species I made sure I was at a safe distance, careful not to disturb or distress the adult birds or the newly emerged youngsters. Although sightings could be guaranteed each night, I found it quite hard to get some photographs I was happy with. Light being the main factor as the setting sun would drop down right behind the nest box casting all of the meadow into shadow. A lot of my photographs were taken in near dark at high ISO’s something I hope to remedy next year by some better planning. But nothing can take away the pure pleasure of watching these beautiful birds raise a family.

As I came home late last night a stunning white outline passed through my headlights beam landing on the railed fence to the side of the road, my first Barn Owl sighting in more than a month. Maybe one of this year’s young or could it be one of the local resident adults. No way of ever knowing but -whichever it was it brought a smile to my face!

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Early March - 2013

To say March started with a bang for me was a bit of an understatement, another Patch Mega found its way into my notebook on the 2nd during a sunny saturday afternoon walk along the river. Taking my time as normal and giving the reed edge a good scan I totally missed the Bittern that erupted from the water edge about 3ft away, scaring me out of a good 10 years of my life, I quickly tried to setup my tripod, fumbling with my camera as this awesome mythical patch bird disappeared across the water meadows. As you can see from below I didn't manage a picture worthy of posting, but what a bird to have wintering on the patch about 300 yards from the front door.

This weekend also signalled the return of the Barn Owls to the water meadows, maybe I had just missed them throughout the winter but I manage to see two different birds hunting the long grass a good mile or so apart on both saturday and sunday afternoons.  

Distant Barn Owl

With my workload during the day starting to pick up due to our Tradeshow event at the NEC in April, finding time to visit Rooksbury Mill at lunchtime pretty ceased to exist, a trend that I still haven't had chance to remedy. So the odd evening I could sneak out on the river proved crucial in discovering the comings and going of spring.

Plenty of Duck life on the waterways with the Mallard Drakes starting to loose a little of the stunning colour they've held for most of the winter, Gadwall seem to be present in a lot higher numbers than throughout the past couple of months, showing up in groups of 6+ on various parts of the patch.

Mallard Drake

Gadwall At Dusk

The Goldcrests still seemed to be present everywhere as I counted a whopping 13 singing birds one evening on a river circuit walk, with the now daily increasing addition of Chiffchaffs that also got into double figures. The local Kestrels seemed to be quite active showing up quite often, along with a pair of Buzzards one with particularly pale coloration's.

Chiffchaff

One evening on the way home from work, I was positive I saw a lone Hawfinch rise up with the flock of Chaffinches feeding on the edge of the main road through the village, a quick look back for the next couple of nights confirmed that it must have just been a bloody big Chaffinch.

By the middle of the month a lot of Fieldfare and Redwing were showing up in the garden and around the fields surrounding the house, maybe fuelling up for there journey onwards, with several Redwing venturing quite close to the front room window for a stunning view one drab morning.

On the 16th Nat was down for the weekend so we took off down to Farlington Marshes, with reported sightings of Spoonbill & Red-breasted Goose over the past couple of days I thought it was about time I got some slight rarities on my year & county list. On a pretty drab day with plenty of rain in the air we soon picked up a white dot feeding on the far side of the reserve, Spoonbill or at least what looked like a Spoonbill. At this stage of the month there were still plenty of Brent Geese around Langstone Harbour as small skeins flew this way and that landing out on the mudflats and then coming back in again to feed on the grassy meadows.

If Brent Geese were still present in their thousands, Shelduck congregated in their hundreds, I don't think I have ever seen so many in one place. As we walked around to the far side of the reserve we spotted a strange Cape/Ruddy Shelduck hybrid sleeping in amongst the more striking commoners. This also gave us a better view of the Spoonbill now feeding on the shallow lagoon, brilliant to see it working its head back and forth bill under the water sifting through for food.

Incoming Shelduck

We encountered plenty of other species, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Stonechat, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Sanderling, Dunlin, Kestrel & Sparrowhawk, but two new year ticks came as we almost made it back to the car, a female/juvenile Marsh Harrier rising up from the reed bed and spooking the thousands of Brent Geese that were feeding nearby, quite the sight.

If one stunning raptor wasn't enough we caught a quick glimpse of a female Merlin zooming between bushes further down the path. No Red-breasted Goose but well worth the visit.

With stomachs rumbling, a quick stop in Pizza Hut replenished the energy levels as we drove around the expanse of Langstone Harbour to the Spinnaker Tower and the seafront at Southsea. Having seen the reports on going birding for most of the winter I suddenly had the urge to try for what would be a new lifer for me, having not taking the species of birds I've seen throughout my life to seriously until a couple of years ago, I still have no recollection of catching up with this species before, the Purple Sandpiper, a winter visitor to our shores and one that doesn't visit in huge numbers. 

With high counts of 21 and 27 recorded during the winter, but none posted for a couple of weeks I wasn't sure if my luck would be in or not. So braving the now brighter but defiantly blowier weather we wandered along the promenade right up to the castle and believe it or not just 3ft the other side of the railings, 3 tiny little Purple Sandpipers hunkered down in any cracks they could find sheltering from the bitter wind. 

I never once imagined I would see them so close, and had to admit I was shocked by how they were to find. So as usual another good days birding down on the south coast.

Purple Sandpiper

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2012 - Big Change, Little Time

So if you thought you had read your last 2012 Review Blog Post you were wrong, you haven't! I shall try and keep it short and most hopefully sweet. As many of you may have read 2012 has been a weird old year for me, moving the family home in March and April has brought far more photographic opportunities with a wide range of species alongside the River in Longparish, Hampshire, and although this is a plus and a positive for the year, leaving behind the home and country estate that you've spent the past 25 years of your life is a little sad.

2012 started badly for me with the loss of Paddy our 6 year old Springer Spaniel, and this wasn't the end of the pet related deaths as in July we lost Sweep our 3 year old Cocker Spaniel both to horrible freak accidents when out walking. As well as several close relatives and family friends. Not a year to remember!

But enough of the personal trauma. What about the wildlife? 

Well most of the early part of 2012 was spent trying to catch up with the Short Eared Owls of Bransbury Common. Usually unsuccessfully, although 2012 was an abundant wintering year for them. (11 counted one day by another birder) I still never really got close enough to get any shots I was happy with. Although watching 4 SEO's and 2 Barn Owls hunting together at the same time was pretty special. Definitely on the list for this years early expeditions, especially now as Bransbury Common is part of my new patch. I just hope the heavy rain from the past few months drains through pretty quickly.

January - Short Eared Owl (Barton Stacey, Hants)

With moving in full flow come March and April, photography trip time was at a premium and I had to make sure I made the most of my jaunts to see my girlfriend Nat in Shropshire, I had one especially cracking weekend where all the birds I wanted to see appeared and appeared well, a couple of firsts for me. Great Grey Shrike, Common Crossbill, Red Grouse, Dipper & some really close Red Kites.

March - Red Grouse (The Long Mynd, Shrops)

By May things were more settled at home, and the garden was starting to get up to scratch. Allowing a lot more time to be spent wandering the riverbank, footpaths and water meadows of the new patch. Also enjoying some time with the local Brown Hare population.

May - Brown Hare (Longparish, Hants)

Early June was a bumper month for me and my camera, a weeks holidaying in coastal Pembrokeshire brought some great birding opportunities and a chance to visit Skomer. A must for anyone with any interest in Sea Birds. A pretty special day was spent in the company of Puffins, Razorbills & Guillemots.

Early June - Puffin (Skomer, Pembs)

With the delights of Wales a distant memory, I started to dedicate a lot of time waiting for the local Barn Owl, who took up residence in the field next to the new house. Countless hours were spent trying to anticipate the best angle the best light and the Owl's next whereabouts. My best photograph however came on the way back from Cricket Nets, spotting Barnie out in the field I ditched the car in a nearby drive, jumped across the road with my camera and tripod and bingo! Who needed to spend hours in a midge bitten state waiting fruitlessly. 

Late June - Barn Owl (Longparish, Hants)

The Summer months seemed to last for ever, lots of time to spend out and about, but not a lot to see, my focus turned to Butterflies, Moths & Dragonflies the only constant source of entertainment. Highlights included a Garden tick in the form of a Purple Emperor.

August - Banded Demoiselle (Longparish, Hants)

September, some of the best weather of the year, and another outing with Nat, this time down to Weymouth, 3 RSPB reserves and some cracking species seen. None much MEGARERER than the Short-billed Dowitcher that had been present for a couple of weeks. Even more satisfying than the 20 ft views, was the fact that no one had seen it any closer than a blurred dot in the 2 weeks prior.

September - Short Billed Dowitcher (Lodmoor, Dorset)

October started with a pretty poor weekend in Exmoor, indifferent weather as you would expect. But no rutting action with the Red Deer at all. Things improved for the better towards the end of the month with what I think will go down as my personal highlight of the year. Another weekend in Shropshire and a visit to the moorland expanse of the Long Mynd. Bringing me an awesome half hour in the company of my first ever Merlin. 

October - Merlin (Long Mynd, Shrops)

As the weather started to get a little colder and Christmas approaching, my sister and I made our now annual visit to Slimbridge. We managed to pick a nice crisp morning with some beautiful light. Just right for the thousands of Waterbirds throughout the reserve, none much more striking than the beautiful Pintail.

November - Pintail (Slimbridge, Gloucs)

December, Go to work in the dark, get home from work in the dark. Dodge the raindrops, watch the mud. You all know the story, trying to find time to spend when it wasn't raining proved near on impossible. Outings were left to dry lunchtimes and one just happened to bring a wildlife encounter that I truly think will take some beating on a lunchtime ever again. I have been spending some time hoping to encounter the Rooksbury Otters on and off since they first appeared at the end of March. Sometimes successfully other times not. Having not photographed them since the spring, this close encounter was a welcomed to end to the year.

December - Otter (Andover, Hants)

So in conclusion a pretty good year I guess, and I can't complain at all, other than I guess not having enough time. A full time job along with a part time seasonal job (Groundsman) doesn't allow for as much wildlife watching as I would like. All of my encounters apart from the Barn Owl really come down to just being in the right place at the right time. Not being able to sit and learn patterns in behaviour and when and where I am most likely to see certain species.

I think my main aim for 2013 is to try and focus on a much narrower range of species and projects, hopefully to reward me more in viewing & learning about the wildlife I hope to photograph. I ended the year with a pretty average 156 Species of Birds so I am hoping to improve that dramatically for 2013 too.

Download it here - 2012 Species List - Excel File

Here is too 2013 - Best of luck one and all!

Barn Owl Bonanza

With the weather as it is at the moment, one minute wet one minute dry, it most be wreaking havoc on the habits of the local Barn Owl population. Having discovered a nest site in an old Barn on stilts no more that 200 yards from the house. I've been trying to make it a priority to get some decent photographs in the past couple of weeks.

Although the weather must prove pretty tricky to them as they can't hunt every night because of the rain, its proving quite useful in tracking them down on the next dry night after the rain. I've come to the conclusion that in the 5.7 miles between my house and the cricket pitch at St Mary Bourne I have seen 4 different pairs. All hunting miles apart in a very short time, the most obvious pair in SMB were seen entering there nest box with voles at quite a frequent rate.

So now I've seen and vaguely have some idea of there patterns - nights after rain they are usually out hunting the water meadows from 7.15pm onwards. Getting in a good spot for photography is the next challenge. The first 3 images below were not well planned, a quick ditch of the car on the side of the road and me stood leaning against it as the Owl flew no more than 30 yards away, quite a magic encounter with the sun still shining.

The rest of the images did however have some kind of planning as to the location, thinking 6.45pm was early enough to get set up in position, I didn't expect the Barn Owl to come flying out of the tree next to me as I looked to enter the meadow. Luckily he/she wasn't bothered to much and settled on a fence post  just out of sight. So I had to relocate on the wrong side of the sun and stood dead still on the River Bank as I had a very special hour or so watching this silent predator glide over the tops of the grass.

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Barn Owl & The 2012 Century

With a good hidden spot scouted out for owl watching, Nat and I set my 2 man real tree hide up on the Common late on Sunday afternoon in anticipation of Short-eared's the result to which I wrote about in my previous post.

Whilst watching them from a distance I was always hopeful that if the Barn Owl joined the fray it might stray a lot closer to the hide than the Shorties would. My hopes didn't prove to be disappointing as after about 30 mins of watching the Barn Owl hunt the long grass beyond the River Dever, it started to work either bank back and forth towards the hide. A few well placed squeak calls on the back of my hand, and he / she was heading straight for the hide. I have to admit in my amateuristic state of Owl attraction, I tempted it so close that I couldn't focus my lens in time, and was beginning to wonder if it might join me in the hide.

None the less a fantastic afternoon spent watching the Owls, and a real privilege to see such an awesome bird in the daytime. Plus I reached 100 Bird Species for the year with a Male Reed Bunting.

Barn Owl 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl 

About To Drop 

My Favorite 

In Flight 

As Close As "Barnie" Got Before I Lost The Focus :-(

99 Without The Flake

Having got some detailed directions to the location of the Short-eared Owls at Bransbury, I set the alarm for 5.50am on Friday morning and headed off in the darkness. After a 25 min trek from the Car to the given location I arrived about 6.35am, already the light gaining on me fast, it proved too fast really as a pair of Barn Owls were already out hunting as I emerged from the path on to the common. Waiting till they disappeared I crept further up the fence-line to the recommended spot overlooking the River Dever and the distant River Test. A Short-eared Owl soon joining me in the same field before quickly disapeering

My mornings Owl spotting was soon interrupted however by the local Deer Stalker who trundled up the River bank in front of me, seemingly spooking said Owls as I never saw them again. A couple of Buzzards flew over the area unperturbed, and just as I began to think about packing up and heading off to work at 7.15 am a Ring-tailed Hen Harrier glided over the top of the grasses in the distance. Number 99 on my bird Species list for 2012 and the first I've seen in England let alone Hampshire.

With the weather marginally better in the afternoon I headed down again, finding an alternative entry footpath and reducing the walk too around 10 mins. With Camo hide setup I enjoyed some cracking views of 4 Short-eared Owls and 1 Barn Owl for a good couple of hours. The light however preventing any of the photographs to anything more than a Noisy blur.

With Sundays afternoon awash in beautiful golden sunlight, and the weekends work moving just about done, Nat and I headed down and were setup again in my hide by 4pm, the first Shortie showing around 15 mins later soon joined by another 2. With both Rivers in between getting closer to them is a bit of a task especially as it seems like private ground, so all photos are from the edge of the common quite a distance away, some cracking views mind!

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

A Late Xmas Pressie

With the routine pretty much back to normal, after a New Year visit to Shropshire. And a another serious bought of Cold, I was able to get back out and about with the Camera at lunch time today. Now having been on about it for about 2 months to close friends, family and work colleagues (Particularly my Girlfriend) I forked out some serious saved Cash to upgrade my photographing distance. Take a look at this bad boy!

Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM

My Christmas present to myself! So off I popped at lunch today lens attached and fitted to the tripod, the only problem with upgrading.....It weighs a lot more than I had previously had to carry. And before I get carried away as a moany photographer I'll shut up about it.

On the Wildlife front though a pretty disappointing trip, the weather, as I guess it was in every other part of the UK today was pretty darn windy. All the water borne birds underneath the shelter of the overhanging branches. Canada Goose, Black-headed Gull, Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck & Little Grebe all sheltering from the wind. The only birds brave enough to ride the quite choppy waves being the Coot & Moorhen.

No signs of any smaller birds, 2 or 3 Robins flitted about around the path, along with a couple of Blackbirds, I did get a brief glimpse at the first Kingfisher of the year, as he flew into the reeds. So all in all not really a great chance to try my new bit of kit out.

Talking of stunning pieces of kit. My Mum bought Dad a Trophy / Stealth Camera for Christmas this year, after setting it up on the Bird Table in the garden and soon realizing that the Birds are too small to set it off. He maneuvered it too his Barn Owl Box across the field in front of our house. With all this windy weather it appeared that an ivy branch 40 yards away seemed to cause the most common movement in setting the sensor off. 3 Days & 1000 Pics later - All I can say is not bad for a first attempt! It's now repositioned and ready for a second go.

Andy Clay. Copyright 2012