birdman
Thursday 12th June 2003, 00:27
Just a spur of the moment jaunt around the Outback this evening, triggered by Partnyorsha arriving home from work in a stressed-out state!
We left the house at about 9.00pm, to do a fairly brisk circuit.
Didn’t expect to get too much from the evening, and came back with only 15 birds, including 1 unided, but… those 15 included another to add to my Patch 2003 List, and a couple of other highlights.
First highlight, and most minor but rewarding nonetheless, was we actually managed to see rather than just hear one of the Chiffchaffs – in the shrubbery bordering the north side of the pond.
Second highlight, and quite a biggie – we caught sight of a Long-eared Owl on the bare branches of a tree. The tree was one on the side if the path that runs generally west to east towards the north of my patch, skirting the “Lapwing” field. The long “ears” were clearly visible, but we kept taking a few steps, and looking again, just to try to get that extra bit of confirmation. Before we got much closer, however, it took off on a hunting foray over the grassy field. As we both watched, another LEO passed through out fields of vision in the opposite direction. We watched both owls through binoculars for at least 5 minutes, frequently seeing both in the same field of view.
Eventually we carried on to take the path alongside the Private (hotel) Grounds. I noticed what I first thought was a Starling, then a Mistle Thrush, fly low across the “Lapwing” field, not more than 2 or 3 feet above the ground. Then it swooped up an onto a bare branch on the other side of the same tree as mentioned before. It was now clearly a Little Owl – and becomes the 44th positive id for my patch.
We continued our walk, and returning back down the southern east-west path, we saw another Little Owl perched on a telegraph pole, before it dropped almost like a stone onto, I should imagine, some unsuspecting prey!
Shortly afterward we were overflown by an unidentified (almost definitely) wader, with extremely fast fluttering wingbeats and a typically wadery whistle. This is the second time we’ve seen a “wader”, although the first time (last Saturday) we talked ourselves out of the idea. Trouble is, it was now after 10.00pm, and in spite of a more than three quarter moon, it was getting very dusky.
As we walked past the pond again on the return home, we disturbed (not too much I hope) the Heron than we had seen arrive as we set off.
So, from not expecting much, we ended up with a very exciting evening stroll!
(Oh, and for those thinking the directions I have given in this report are a bit particular, I have actually attempted to post a map of my patch on BF, which you might like to refer to – even if you’d prefer not to admit it!)
Bird list follows (* = heard only)
Blackbird
Chiffchaff
Coot
Grey Heron
House Martin
Lapwing
Little Owl
Long-eared Owl
Magpie *
Mallard
Skylark
Whitethroat *
Wood Pigeon
Yellowhammer
Unided Wader
(Edited for Typo)
We left the house at about 9.00pm, to do a fairly brisk circuit.
Didn’t expect to get too much from the evening, and came back with only 15 birds, including 1 unided, but… those 15 included another to add to my Patch 2003 List, and a couple of other highlights.
First highlight, and most minor but rewarding nonetheless, was we actually managed to see rather than just hear one of the Chiffchaffs – in the shrubbery bordering the north side of the pond.
Second highlight, and quite a biggie – we caught sight of a Long-eared Owl on the bare branches of a tree. The tree was one on the side if the path that runs generally west to east towards the north of my patch, skirting the “Lapwing” field. The long “ears” were clearly visible, but we kept taking a few steps, and looking again, just to try to get that extra bit of confirmation. Before we got much closer, however, it took off on a hunting foray over the grassy field. As we both watched, another LEO passed through out fields of vision in the opposite direction. We watched both owls through binoculars for at least 5 minutes, frequently seeing both in the same field of view.
Eventually we carried on to take the path alongside the Private (hotel) Grounds. I noticed what I first thought was a Starling, then a Mistle Thrush, fly low across the “Lapwing” field, not more than 2 or 3 feet above the ground. Then it swooped up an onto a bare branch on the other side of the same tree as mentioned before. It was now clearly a Little Owl – and becomes the 44th positive id for my patch.
We continued our walk, and returning back down the southern east-west path, we saw another Little Owl perched on a telegraph pole, before it dropped almost like a stone onto, I should imagine, some unsuspecting prey!
Shortly afterward we were overflown by an unidentified (almost definitely) wader, with extremely fast fluttering wingbeats and a typically wadery whistle. This is the second time we’ve seen a “wader”, although the first time (last Saturday) we talked ourselves out of the idea. Trouble is, it was now after 10.00pm, and in spite of a more than three quarter moon, it was getting very dusky.
As we walked past the pond again on the return home, we disturbed (not too much I hope) the Heron than we had seen arrive as we set off.
So, from not expecting much, we ended up with a very exciting evening stroll!
(Oh, and for those thinking the directions I have given in this report are a bit particular, I have actually attempted to post a map of my patch on BF, which you might like to refer to – even if you’d prefer not to admit it!)
Bird list follows (* = heard only)
Blackbird
Chiffchaff
Coot
Grey Heron
House Martin
Lapwing
Little Owl
Long-eared Owl
Magpie *
Mallard
Skylark
Whitethroat *
Wood Pigeon
Yellowhammer
Unided Wader
(Edited for Typo)