A Tale of Two Shorties

I had a few hours to spare on Thursday, it was a bright but windy day, so I took a visit to one of my regular owl haunts. 

This undisclosed location, in my opinion, is one of the most reliable spots in the North East for views of owls. You do of course have to know what your looking for and where, you could wander around aimlessly expecting to see one and not see a thing, then again  you could strike lucky.

From the moment I arrived, the locale was teeming with passerine activity; Blue Tits and Great Tits singing and flitting through the scrub and trees.

Redwing, Fieldfare and Blackbird foraged around the horse paddocks, always keeping their distance, whilst Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting hung around the pathways and small hedgerows.

Unfortunately the Little Owl pair eluded me yet again. That's the fourth time that's happened, perhaps I'm not looking hard enough. Though I have been informed by a fellow birder that at least one of them was spotted on New Years day at dusk. There's hope yet.......fifth time lucky? 

I continued on and walked towards the regular Asio owl roosts, due to time constraints I bypassed the regular Long Eared/ Asio Otus roosts as they take more to find in the dense hawthorn thicket.

Whilst walking past the plantations and hawthorn scrub, I watched a Jay foraging, always a treat.

I started walking across the fields, observing a covey of 16 Red Legged Partridges take off and land further across the field. I kept scanning fence posts and hedge lines as I marched on, I slowly approached a regular roost site and in the distance I could see a pale brown mass. 

Using my binoculars after a few slow steps forward I could confirm this was a large Pale Short Eared Owl/ Asio Flammeus on a very popular perch. This is a sizeable individual and the most notable feature are the stunning bright yellow eyes which seem to be constantly scanning you.

After another slow wander closer I noticed another darker shape, higher up and to the right of the first Shortie. I recognised this individual, its a much smaller and darker bird than the first owl, and I've seen it before on this site just a few weeks back. Both birds seemed rather comfortable in my company and even the presence of a cocky Stoat running about in the field below them, with its prey, didn't deter them from their roost.

As you can see on the above photo, the second shortie is clearly a lot darker and was a much more wary bird, never taking its bright yellow eyes off me and always keeping its small tufts erected.
The larger bird was much more relaxed, snoozing every now and again and looking around at the noisy blackbirds in the area, always keeping its tufts up just in case.
What a privilege it was to see two Short Eared Owls at roost.

Have you seen a Short Eared Owl in the North East?
If so, get in touch with The Northern Owl Project and I will log your sighting into the database. Email me directly at david.dinsley@live.co.uk or inbox my facebook page.

David

The Northern Owl Project/ Nature North East

Fire & Water

The Charcoal Kilns ablaze 

As part of my training on the WildGrounds project with Durham Wildlife Trust we took part in the creation of Charcoal. Beginning to End, on the 5^th, 6^th and the 10^{th November.}. Starting with the filling of the Kilns, the lighting and burning of the wood and the bagging of the charcoal.

We did this at Low Barns Nature Reserve, near Bishop Auckland. My first time on this nature reserve and what a brilliant place it is.

There were birds aplenty in the woodland and wetland habitats, with great views of Passerines, Pheasant and Moorhen around the feeding station. As well as Grey Squirrel, everyone has an opinion of that particular yank species. I managed to get a couple of brief glimpses of Sparrowhawk and on the final day a single Snipe flying overhead.
All in all the three days of charcoal production, from start to the final end product, was a great experience, made even better because of the fantastic setting! If you get a chance I highly recommend you visit Low Barnes Nature Reserve.

The longest day we had was a 13 hour day, which was spent actually letting the wood burn in the kilns to create the charcoal. This day was book ended by the calling of Tawny Owls, both in the morning and on the evening. I love Owls, I think anyone who spends an amount of time in my company will realise I have a healthy obsession with our five British species! They fascinate me.

So if anyone reading this rings Owls or knows of any regular Owl hotspots(In the North East of course) I would love to hear from you. ;)

The feeders at Low Barnes provided the best views of Nuthatch I think I've ever had and although very weary, we were occasionally treated to some great views of Jay.

Jay fascinate me, for a Corvid species they're incredibly shy and amazingly coloured. They do however, make an incredible racket. Some fleeting glimpses of a pair of Kingfisher also added a dash of colour to a grey Autumn day.