birdman
Орнитол&
Ended Yorkshire Day with a walk aroung the Outback with partnyorsha and doch'.
(Regular readers will either know or have worked out I use "partnyorsha" as shorthand for "the woman I live with", being the feminine Russian word for "partner". In the same vane, "doch' " is Russian for daughter.)
Anyway, preamble over...
Didn't expect to see much, but the main purpose of the walk was to try to find an owl for doch'.
The grasses are undergoing their annual cut (still happening as I write.)
We followed our usual route, setting off at aroung 8.45 pm. Although the light was surprisingly good, we couldn't even rely on our usual suspects, and saw nothing until we reached the pond, and the Moorhens and Coots.
In the distance we heard a Magpie or two, and also a Woodpigeon.
Continuing on to where the Long-eared Owls hunt, we saw a single Blackbird.
But no owls.
It was still surprisingly light, which perhaps didn't help - and maybe the chicks aren't so demanding now?
We turned to walk alongside the hotel grounds, and saw numerous rabbits, and then in front of us (I was last of the three to see it) a Little Owl flew down from one tree and up into the next.
We were also able to see it perched on a branch looking at us, before it moved on.
Success!
Close by we could hear the call of (unidentified) partridges.
As we continued through the trees, darkness really began to fall, and it was really quite gloomy, when we emerged from the other side.
By now, though we could hear owls all around. Refering to my CD when I got home, it seems that we heard Long-eared Owls squawking and Tawny Owls "hooing" - although we did not see any more.
In fact, we didn't see any more bird life at all, just a few bats, as it was now getting seriously dim, with just a thin crescent moon, and a few stars to light the way home...
(Edited for being completely unable to type! - At least 10 typos!!!)
(Regular readers will either know or have worked out I use "partnyorsha" as shorthand for "the woman I live with", being the feminine Russian word for "partner". In the same vane, "doch' " is Russian for daughter.)
Anyway, preamble over...
Didn't expect to see much, but the main purpose of the walk was to try to find an owl for doch'.
The grasses are undergoing their annual cut (still happening as I write.)
We followed our usual route, setting off at aroung 8.45 pm. Although the light was surprisingly good, we couldn't even rely on our usual suspects, and saw nothing until we reached the pond, and the Moorhens and Coots.
In the distance we heard a Magpie or two, and also a Woodpigeon.
Continuing on to where the Long-eared Owls hunt, we saw a single Blackbird.
But no owls.
It was still surprisingly light, which perhaps didn't help - and maybe the chicks aren't so demanding now?
We turned to walk alongside the hotel grounds, and saw numerous rabbits, and then in front of us (I was last of the three to see it) a Little Owl flew down from one tree and up into the next.
We were also able to see it perched on a branch looking at us, before it moved on.
Success!
Close by we could hear the call of (unidentified) partridges.
As we continued through the trees, darkness really began to fall, and it was really quite gloomy, when we emerged from the other side.
By now, though we could hear owls all around. Refering to my CD when I got home, it seems that we heard Long-eared Owls squawking and Tawny Owls "hooing" - although we did not see any more.
In fact, we didn't see any more bird life at all, just a few bats, as it was now getting seriously dim, with just a thin crescent moon, and a few stars to light the way home...
(Edited for being completely unable to type! - At least 10 typos!!!)
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