Having a Barnie

A couple of days ago I noticed a lot of white fluffy down on a tree close to one of my Little Owl sites.  I have occasionally seen a Barn Owl hunting nearby, so further investigation was called for. It took me couple of nights to spot the owners of the fluffy down, but it was well worth the hours spent quietly watching. Two, almost ready to fly, Barn Owl chicks appeared from out of a large cavity in the tree just before dark last night. Also an adult was hunting over the field behind the tree. I managed to get a few decent images despite it being almost  too dark for me to see the birds with the naked eye (ISO 2000 needed). I also took a short section of video showing the chick practising its funky dance moves. This is a significant find as Barn Owls are still scarce in the south-west of the county.

Barn Owl Chick

Wing Stretching

South-West Leicestershire List

I have finally, with the help of Adey Baker, created the 'South-West Leicestershire Bird List'. The list is an account of all the species recorded in south-west Leicestershire that are considered acceptable by the authors. Whilst compiling the list we have found some very good records which hopefully will be found acceptable by the LROS records committee in due course.


The boundary of 'South-West Leicestershire Bird List' Is one of my own making. 
To see the list please CLICK HERE

You will need to install 'Google Drive' if the list won't open Click Here for Download.

If the list doesn't work correctly on your pc email me at cdbaggott@gmail.com and I''ll send you a copy of the pdf file.

First Chick

This morning I managed to get my first half decent photo of one of this year's Little Owl chicks. I was in my hide again for a couple of hours before work and at least one of the chicks came to the nest hole and the adult female also put in an appearance, but the light was a bit poor whilst she was posing.

Another session this morning (15/06/2012) produced almost constant views of two chicks and the female was ever present and fed both chicks. I thought the female was going to make me late for work as she wouldn't disappear and let me leave the hide unseen. She eventually flew off, but the chicks watched me emerge from the hide and were unconcerned by my presence.

It's Bright Out Here

Mum

What's for Tea Mum?

The nest is quite close to a busy road, but if you listen carefully you can hear the youngsters calling.

Brascote Pits

While I was away in Scotland I missed a Bar-tailed Godwit at Brascote Pits, which was a site first. This is a great bird for my corner of Leicestershire, however, I do like to see all of the good birds myself if I can, so it hurts to have missed this one. I am still gathering supporting information on it (listen to me getting all important), as I will need to add it to the local area list. That is when I finally decide on the boundaries of my local listing area. 


I have now seen a photograph of the Barwit and found out that it was there for a week.

With this in mind I set out this morning to even the score with an excellent find for myself. I didn't manage it, but there were a few good birds there today including:

2 Shelduck

2 Grey Partridge

3 Ringed Plovers

3 Dunlin

4 Oystercatcher

2 Common Tern

1 Little Owl

20+ Swift

30+ Swallow

The mega will have to wait until tomorrow I guess.