No, that's not a typo in the header. I'd not been out with John for our 'regular' Thursday afternoon for three weeks - partly due to the weather and partly due to severe toothache followed by an extraction. We'd pretty-much decided, therefore, that we'd go out on this Thursday (16th Feb.) no matter what the weather. We were relieved to find, the day before, that the forecast was not too bad.
On my way to pick up John (it was my turn to drive) I stopped at my Little Owl Site No.02. I've been seeing a pair here regularly of late, and I saw both on this occasion, although one bird only showed for a second or two. The sun was shining and I managed some shots of the male bird.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (male) - my Site No.02 |
The skies clouded over soon after leaving John's place and by the time we found our first owl, at Site No.37, it was fairly dull. This was no bad thing as the views at this site are 'into the sun'.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.37 |
We stopped for our picnic lunch by my LO Site No.34, and one owl was seen, but I did not attempt any photography.
We then continued to Eyebrook Reservoir in the hope of getting some Kingfisher images. The water at the inflow was extremely muddy and we only had one glimpse of a Kingfisher (no photos) as it flashed down the inflow to the reservoir.
After a while here we gave up and headed round to the hide on the western side of the reservoir. There were plenty of birds out on the water, but all at a great distance. Not wanting to come away totally empty-handed, I took a few shots of a drake Goldeneye which was spending three times longer under water than it was on the surface.
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| Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) (male) - Eyebrook Reservoir |
The light was failing rapidly and so we decided that it was time to head for home. As we left the hide we felt the first drops of rain. We were back in the car, and I was just about to pull away, when a Robin alighted on the hedge just in front of us. Never one to resist an obliging bird, I fired off a few frames.
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| Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - Eyebrook Reservoir |
It soon started to rain quite heavily and, as John wanted to be home by 17h00 we skipped a few of our normal stops, and only saw those owls seen on the outward journey.
I dropped John at his home at around 16.45 and, as Lindsay wasn't expecting me home until between 18h30 and 19h00, I called again at my LO Site No.02 and sat in my car and waited. I'd seen the Little Owls mating here on my previous two evening visits. The first owl (the female) showed at 17h00. This bird is quite distinctive in its appearance as it has a flattish head and bushy 'eyebrows'.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (female) - my Site No.02 at 17h00 |
The light was already failing quickly, but I was thankful that it was not sunny as the light would have been directly behind the bird, making matters even more difficult. She stayed in this spot for a few minutes before flying up to the top of the end wall.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (female) - my Site No.02 at 17h04 |
It was nearly ten minutes later when I heard an owl calling followed by the male bird appearing in the remains of the building. It was somewhat darker already.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (male) - my Site No.02 at 17h13 |
Almost immediately he flew to the end wall, which had been vacated by the female.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (male) - my Site No.02 at 17h13 |
The female then arrived at a point below the male.
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (female + male) - my Site No.02 at 17h16 |
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (female) - my Site No.02 at 17h16 |
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (female + male) - my Site No.02 at 17h18 |
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| Little Owl (Athene noctua) (female + male) - my Site No.02 at 17h36 |
It wasn't the afternoon I'd hoped it might be, but it was, nevertheless, most enjoyable.
Thank you for dropping by. I suspect that my next post might be on garden birds - unless something interesting happens in the interim!
