The weather over the last few days has been very cold, but clear and dry and so I’ve managed to get out a bit with the camera, all wrapped up in mulitple layers of fleece ! Up at the old barn, the Barn Owls have been flying well, they seem to be out during all times of the day hunting in the fields out and about. On Wednesday I was lucky to see one ( the female ) come out of her roost and spend ten minutes waking up before heading off hunting and so got some shot of her sat on the window sill of the barn. I was hoping she would fly towards me, but as the photos show she had other ideas, once she was awake she flew back into the barn, and out the other door, but I did manage to get a few side on close up as she went by.
For the rest of the week, each time I went up she was already out flying both at dusk and dawn, quartering the fields and by the look of it catching a good few voles as it did so. There has been no sign of the second Owl, which is this years young bird, so maybe its finally flown the roost, I’lll keep an eye out and see if it returns, assuming the weather remains dry and clear.
At home and abouts it was good to see a Goldeneye duck on a local lake, this is the first one I’ve seen this year, much later than normal and I almost missed spotting it as it was well hidden amongst the Shoveler ducks feeding at the same time. On the pond at home the Fieldfares are still busy feeding around the pond, the Cormarant has been back a few times and of course the Grey Heron has remained a regular visitor. We have also had good numbers of Teal and Mallards and even the Snipe has been a regular. Its nice to see some life back on the pond after what has been a very quiet year so far.
The garden birds have been hitting the feeders which have needed filling up every day this week, as the supply of natural food has been short due to the frosty weather. The Starlings in particular have been in a feeding frenzy, but the Blackbirds, Thrush, Gold Finches and Green Finches have likewise been busy, and yesterday a Greater Spotted Woodpecker chose to ignore the fat balls and peanuts and was happily hanging from the seed feeders eating sunflower hearts.
The weather today is bright but with a storm due to come in later I’m not sure how much I will be able to get out this weekend.
