Once ..Twice ..Three Times A Shortie!!

Friday afternoon found me once again westward bound, an early afternoon finish at work provided a chance for me to head to a local Short-Eared Owl stonghold. It was a gamble, the wind was blowing a gale and it seemed all birds had gone to ground upon arrival.
A medium sized conifer had a Kestrel taking cover and all local song birds seemed to lurk within any available scrub or bushy area, only seeming to come out once the savage wind had dyed down, if only for a moment or two.

A Robin lurked in scrub to my right and at times was down to a couple feet in proximity, whether in the bush or on what looked like its favoured stone on the ground. I presume it favoured said stone due to the excessive droppings and its habit of hopping over to it and perching on it.

A handful of other common songbirds would take advantage of these pauses in the wind, species such as Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Blackbird, Wren and Reed Bunting.

A male Stonechat was briefly visible in a northern field but soon disappeared across the expansive grassland and a stunning Willow Tit would show its face every now and again.

Whilst I waited for a glimpse of a Shortie another birder arrived, on the hunt for the same target. Sam and myself waited for any possible signs, discussing birding and the like, as well as observing 6 Golden Plover flying overhead in two congregations of three. First of the year! Nice!
Suddenly Sam spotted something and we were in business, despite the windy weather a Shortie was up, active and quartering.
My assumption is that the wind had dropped enough to coax it out to hunt, great for us but frustrating for the owl as it seemed multiple attempts at hunting failed.

A second bird appeared and began hunting the fields for a Voley supper, neither birds seemed to interact with each other. They both kept themselves to themselves and hunted as the curtain of darkness rolled in, often perching on fence posts that provided cover from the wind and almost us, as they tended to favour posts in the very distance. Even the binoculars struggled to provide a decent view at times.

We watched the pair hunting and silently flying over the rough grassland as the sunlight dwindled, Sam left but I hung around a few moments longer.

You can read Sams blog here;

https://monkseatonnatureboyblog.wordpress.com/

I moved my position slightly further east along the track and after a couple of minutes my patience was rewarded. Upon looking up from my camera, a third Shortie had appeared out from within the plantation and landed on a post about thirty feet away, phenomenal! 

Unfortunately with it being dark my camera struggled to grab a decent shot despite the proximity and the shot below is the best I could muster. It hung around for six minutes or so and flew off on the hunt.

Watching Short-Eared Owls actively hunting during the daylight is a birding highlight for me, it never gets boring and is always exhilarating to watch. What an absolute pleasure!

David

Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project

Arcot Pond 27th Feb

On Friday morning (27th Feb) I spent about 45 minutes at my local patch before heading off to Gateshead to complete my woodchipper training qualification.
All was quiet, all was still and this seems to be the norm recently at Arcot Pond. The horses were still in the South West field, much to my frustration and the Roe Deer were in their usual hot spot across the pond. Two doe and a buck, sporting velvet antlers! Fantastic.
I look forward to watching them over the coming weeks and months.

As I stood watching the Deer, there was a few duck species milling about the pond with Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Shoveler all dabbling on the waters surface. All of a sudden ducks, gulls and corvids took to the air as Arcot's chief avian predator burst out of the woodland and flew over the pond and headed northwards.

Once the Buzzard had left a stillness returned to the area and I watched as two Oystercatchers flew south and possibly towards Big Waters? The presence of two distant Canada Geese on the pond provided my first geese of the year at Arcot, I wonder if they'll breed again this year?

All in all it was a very quiet forty five minutes on patch but nonetheless enjoyable and as readers to my blog will know, the birding day got vastly better in the afternoon with a Short-Eared Owl bonanza!
http://nature-northeast.blogspot.com/2015/02/shortie-stakeout.html

David
Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project

Shortie Stakeout

This afternoon was spent waiting for Short-Eared Owls at Prestwick Carr, an area which has reportedly had the birds coming out earlier each day and owling word had clearly spread as many other birders also flocked along the lane.
After about 90 minutes of scanning and waiting, we had the first Shortie, followed swiftly by another, and another and another!! Four birds in total were seen to be quartering the fields for prey in the last remaining light and as I left in near darkness their ominous silhouettes could still be made out in the distance.

David
Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project

Coastal Shorties

This afternoon I took a drive up the Northumberland coast in search of Short-Eared Owls that had been reported hunting on coastal dunes. After a 40 minute chilled drive in the afternoon sun I arrived at my destination and on my first scan of the area with my bin's I spotted my first Owl!!
It was phenomenal getting to see diurnal hunting Short-Eared Owls on the Northumbrian coast, and not just one but three!! After a solid 25-30 minutes of activity, with the birds quatering the grassy slopes in search of prey, the birds began being mobbed by corvids. One of the Owls ended up flying at a great height to prevent mobbed attack and soon all three birds dropped into the dunes.
After 15 minutes or so the birds reappeared, not as confiding as earlier mind and seemingly further apart than before.
What a treat, spending a couple of hours relaxing under the afternoon sun watching Shorties hunting and having a bit crack with a few birders. Magic!

David
Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project