More Hiding From the Owls

Normally adult Little Owls are very wary when a hide suddenly appears in their territory, but I was thrilled to see one of the adults right in front of me this morning. After a wait of over an hour, a chick (there only seems to be one at this site) appeared and it was obvious from its excitement that one of the adults was nearby. The youngster disappeared back down into the nest when some horses galloped by. I took the opportunity to reach for a drink and when I looked back an adult had appeared. The adult promptly went to sleep, so I had to wait for my shots. In the end the youngster joined its parent on the same perch. 

Adult Little Owl

That's My Boy

Stop Chewing My Feet

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.

Summer Returns For a Few Hours

Waking up to sunny weather gave me a bit of a headache this morning - what should I do? Should I go in search of insects, go owling or revisit my sites in west Leicestershire. Little Owls won the early battle, as I returned to the site where I saw the juvenile last night. I didn't have to wait too long for mum to put in an appearance at the nest hole.

Morning

Ready For Take Off

After the first showing, the owls didn't want to play, so I left the site and met up with Adey Baker at Croft. We had a fruitful walk around the hill and quarry. The highlights were 14 Bee Orchids, a pair of Grey Partridge, a Kingfisher and two Grass Snakes that were out sunning themselves.

After that I went over to the Ashby Canal at Dadlington in search of White-legged Damselflies. I did manage to see an adult and two immatures, but compared to other years, at a similar time, this was very disappointing.

Teneral White-legged Damselfly, Ashby Canal

My last port of call was Brascote Pits where there was good numbers of damselflies, mainly Azures and a few Red-eyed Damselflies. 

Red-eyed Damselfly, Brascote Pits

I also saw my first Dragonflies of the year at Brascote Pits - a couple of Four-spotted Chasers, but I had no look photographing them today. However, I've included a photo of one from a couple of years ago.

Four-spotted Chaser

Going in the Right Direction

Earlier today I visited Brascote Pits and while I was there I met up with local birder Dave Taylor. Dave reminded me that there have been records of Bee Orchids at the site in previous years, so we decided to check out the area where we thought they might be. Dave spotted the first and then I quickly spotted another two. The weather wasn't really that good, so Dave took a quick record shot of one and I vowed to return later in the day as the weather was supposed to improve.  Birds seen included a single Redshank, a pair of Gadwall and several LRP's.

The weather did improve, so I went out this evening and photographed the orchid and I checked out three Little Owl sites: at the first there was no sign of the owls; at the second one of the adults was perched on the weather vane above the barn and at the last an adult flew into to what I suspected was the nest and a juvenile appeared at the entrance. This was my first view of a juvenile this year.

Please Stop This Thing Spinning 

Bee Orchid, Brascote Pits

Footnote: 13 Bee Orchids were located at Brascote Pits on June 24th 2012

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More Hiding From The Owls

Go West

I had an urge to visit the west of Leicestershire and search for Corn Buntings. Corn Buntings are scarce in the county, but a few can usually be found around Twycross. One of the best spots has traditionally been near to Orton-on-the-Hill, but I drew a blank there this morning. I did find three singing birds at other locations, so there are still some out there. Song perches are very important to these birds and perhaps the reason the regular site at Orton-on-the-Hill appears to have been abandoned is that the tree the bird normally sings from has been given a haircut. However, other birds are usually found singing from telephone wires nearby  but none were found.

Corn Bunting

I also saw three Yellow Wagtails including a pair together in suitable breeding habitat. Unfortunately no photographs were obtained. Just south of Twycross a Little Owl was perched on telephone wires above the road. It was early so I managed to pull over and take some photos. 

Little Owl

The highlight of the day was finding a Quail singing near to Appleby Magna.


Wasn't the weather stunning today?

Early Morning Owling

This morning I was up and about early and spent a whole hour in my portable hide before going to work. I don't usually expect to achieve much with so little time, but this morning I was in for a treat. The female emerged from her nest and spent some time sitting just above it. The light is very harsh on the tree when the sun first comes up which causes problems - the 'Golden Hour' is normally a great time for photographers.

On the way to work, I stopped off at a second site where I found another owl enjoying the sunshine. All this before 08:15!

Hopefully there will be some young owls appearing soon at the various nest sites in my area, but until then here's another reminder of how cute last year's youngsters were.

A Little Challenge

I've always had a soft spot for Little Owls and I am keen to get some great shots of this species. Up until last year I'd managed a few passable digiscoped shots, but they had alluded my DSLR. After a few tips from the county Little Owl expert, Paul Riddle, I started work at a couple of local sites. There are a number of challenges photographing hole nesting birds. The two sites I worked were both in the shade for much of the day and when the sun did get on the trees the light was nearly always too intense - never happy!

Juvenile Little Owl

I have started checking the breeding sites close to my home and I've seen adult birds at four out of five sites so far. This bodes well for this year, but for the time being here are some of my results from last year:

Little Owl Chick

Dinner is Served

Who Me?

Fresh Air at Last