Owling 10th September

Buoyed by my sucessful owl encounter yesterday I headed out for an Owl earlier this evening and predictably headed straight back to the site where I was yesterday! No owl present on arrival though which was disappointing but not altogether unexpected as the weather wasn't the best for owling today. About 5 minutes later when I was just considering my next move a small movement caught my eye and turned out to be the Little Owl popping out from the cavity and into view. Scooooooooooooooooore. So photo's were taken:

This individual remained in view for the best part of half an hour before I decided that the poor beggar had probably had enough of the idiot parked nearby trying to take shit phonescoped images so I left to check other Owl sites in the area.

As I approached my next owl site (well actually I visited another site inbetween but as it was shit and rainy at this point I didn't see anything) I peered as usual at a tree cavity that always looks very owlish and was rewarded with a Tawny Owl's face looking back at me. Unfortunately the bird didn't linger very long once it realised I had seen it and dropped down further into the cavity, thus no photographs were taken. Well, except this one.

Tawny Owl inside a tree. You'll have to take my word on this one.

 As it was getting rapidly dark at this point I was torn between parking up a safe distance away and hoping for the Tawny to show itself again in the hope of a photo or continuing up the road to look at the Little Owls. In the end I waited around 10 minutes, saw no sign of it reappearing and carried on. Which turned out to be a good notion as 2 minutes later I was looking at this beastie:

I think this is one of this years juveniles.

After a few minutes spent eye to eye with this fiersome chap I moved slightly up the road and picked up two more Little Owl perched on fenceposts, the dungheap and then a nearby tree. Hooded birders normal photographic skills came back with a bang at this moment and produced this award winning image:

phwooaar

The light was pretty much gone at this point so I headed home and was rewarded with my first Badger in ages.

badger just before it melted me with its flame vision