Flying Juvenile Long-eared Owl

Sometimes the stars align with birding and bird photography. This young Long-eared Owl and its siblings were wonderful to watch as they started to learn how to fly and practice hunt. These photos were taken quite early on in its flying career. Occasionally it would stop and hover, presumably after hearing a rodent below and instinct kicking in — a remarkable thing to witness. This brood offered a rare chance to watch and photograph young Long-eared Owls in flight at length. A true privilege.

Red Belted Clearwing

Our garden is relatively new, sitting on a housing estate that is only about 15 to 20 years old, with our house being one of the last built around ten years ago. Like all new housing estates, the gardens are small and essentially started as green concrete — but in the six years or so we have been here, I have worked hard on turning it into a little oasis. 

We now have a hedge at the bottom, two apple trees, a pear tree and a plum tree along the side, a wildflower area and loads of flowers for bees and butterflies. The hedgerow and fruit trees have matured nicely, and now when I put a lure out I can expect ten or more Red-belted Clearwing moths. A species that would have been completely unseen here just a few years ago — proper proof that if you build it, they will come. 

I took this back in June, during a family BBQ of course!

 

Blue Tit Bath

 

More Long-tailed Shrike Action

 

A few more shots of the Long-tailed Shrike from last week. It was quite active, hunting grasshoppers and the like whilst we were there. I love shrikes and this bird was tremendous value in the short time we were there.

Barn Owl with prey

 

The Barn Owl is of course one of the nation's most beloved birds, and around here we are incredibly lucky — in a normal year I can usually find one within a mile of my home. This is the same owl as in the previous photos, as you can tell from the damaged ringed leg. On this occasion it flew incredibly close past me as it headed back to the nest. What an absolute privilege!

More Long-eared Owl Portraits

On a windy May evening I was watching this Long-eared Owl hunt from a tree stump (see earlier posts) when it decided to fly off — which was fine, as I had a pretty full memory card with about a thousand shots of the owl looking in every possible direction. 

To my surprise it didn't go far, landing nearby on another exposed branch and again listening intently for rodents below as the wind made hunting difficult. We often think of owls struggling in periods of prolonged rainfall, but prolonged windy spells can be just as challenging.

Another Lifer- Long-tailed Shrike!

 

On Monday afternoon we had to be in Cambridge, so I convinced Amy that the Cotswolds was on the way home — which it was, it just took two and a half hours to get there from Cambridge and the same to get home! We parked up and made the short walk to the mighty crowd gathered to watch Britain's third ever Long-tailed Shrike — following the second in Fife a few weeks ago and the first some 26 years ago on the Hebrides!

Views were never that close, but we were fortunate that the bird flew towards us and started hunting just within range of my new camera, the Canon R5 Mk II. Even better, the sun disappeared behind a cloud and the heat shimmer settled for a bit.

We didn't stay long as an early start beckoned the following morning, but it was great to complete my set of shrikes on the British list — and we had such a laugh. A spontaneous jaunt, spending more time in the car than watching the bird — a proper twitch, absolutely bonkers!

As Amy said, "you have to shrike while the iron is hot!"

Long-eared Owl Portraits

Another look at an adult Long-eared Owl from back in May. I assume it's a male, as in my experience with these birds the male leaves its roost to go hunting first, leaving the female with the young. She will then start calling as it gets dark and go off to hunt herself. This season has been unique for me — both males of the two broods I was originally watching were leaving to hunt before sunset, and this individual was doing so several hours before sunset on occasion. I've never witnessed anything like it in all the years I've been watching owls here.

On this occasion I used a large willow tree to conceal my approach. Once within range I slowly manoeuvred into a clear view of the owl, which was completely relaxed and unfazed by my presence. As it was windy, the owl was hunting from a perch rather than on the wing. This was one of the best encounters I had with an adult owl all spring. What an absolute privilege.

Side lit Barn Owl

Of course photos with the sun behind you are great, but sometimes it's nice to get something a little different. As the Barn Owl flew in front of a bush, the sun cast a beautiful side light, throwing the foliage into shadow behind it — a completely different look to the usual well-lit shot. 

Hudwit Lifer

On Saturday Dad and I visited Cattawade on the Suffolk/Essex border. The Hudsonian Godwit kept us waiting before eventually appearing on the north marsh on the Suffolk side of the border. Views were initially distant but it eventually flew in closer, giving great scope views of this new bird for us both. It wasn't ideal for photography, being just that little bit too distant and quite heat hazy — but no matter, I got some record shots, and it's great to get another lifer so soon after the Western Reef Heron.

Robin at the pool

A young Robin regularly visited the pool whilst I was waiting for Crossbills earlier in the spring. The light was ever changing as the sun glowed through the branches and foliage of the mature woodland, and on this particular dip the Robin caught the light beautifully.
 

Barn Owl and Crowland Abbey

 

As well as Long-eared Owls, I've also been watching a local Barn Owl family. Raising a couple of young in a nearby barn, this ringed bird was very successful at catching voles, bringing one back every twenty minutes or so on some nights.

I used the river bank as cover and watched this owl fly up and down the bank in front of the iconic Crowland Abbey — a truly special setting for wildlife watching.

It has been a great vole year, and it's wonderful to see the local owls doing so well after the struggles of last summer.

More hunting Owls

A couple of different male Long-eared Owls taken on the same night from the spring. On this occasion both birds came out around sunset, so they were a bit of a challenge to photograph — but it was great to share the experience with my wife and her parents. The flight shot was taken after sunset; just as we were giving up, my father-in-law turned around to see one hunting right behind us! Absolute owl magic.

Siskin at the drinking pool

We don't often see Siskins around the Deepings in summer, so a young bird that appeared whilst I was photographing at the reflection pool earlier in the month was quite a surprise. They are suspected to have bred at nearby Maxey, which isn't very far away, and perhaps their range is expanding more generally. Whatever the case, it was great to see and photograph.

Another young Long-eared Owl

This young Long-eared Owl was from a different brood of four — younger than the other broods I had encountered this spring. A new site for us for breeding Long-eared Owls, it's been wonderful to watch them grow up and gain their independence, although sadly one didn't make it. Remarkably, we could often hear another brood of young calling from nearby. It's not unusual to have broods so close together, although in previous years I've seen adults have disagreements after dark when they stray too close to one another. This was the youngest of the brood, and one evening it was sat right out in the open having a little doze, occasionally waking when one of its siblings called.

Bathing Treecreeper

It's not often you see a Treecreeper on the ground. This bird came to bathe twice in quick succession. After taking photos of it on a nearby trunk, I was thrilled to get some shots of it at the water's edge — and was busy reviewing my photos when I realised it was back and bathing right in front of me! After a quick dip it left, so feeling even more pleased with myself, I was reviewing my photos again when I looked up to find it was back in the pool! I really love these images, as they show the Treecreeper in a completely different way to how we usually see them.

Family party

This is one of my favourite shots from the Crossbill sessions back in May, showing a male, female and juvenile together. Very often they would arrive at the pool in flocks, waiting just above in the trees before all descending at the same time. It made photography sessions quite intense, as you never quite knew which bird to focus on — and getting a small group together like this wasn't easy, so I'm pretty pleased with it.

Perched Long-eared Owl study

In the many years I have been watching Long-eared Owls locally, I've only ever encountered the odd adult male out before sunset — usually sat grumpily on a log somewhere — but this year, of the two broods I was originally watching, both males would be out before sunset, actively hunting in May. Oddly, as May progressed they became less and less frequent to find. 

This was a particularly favoured spot for a couple of weeks, and I really enjoyed sitting and waiting for these moments — the views and shots made it all worthwhile. I love Long-eared Owls, and will be sharing more over the next few weeks.

Bank Voles in holes

 

A few weeks ago I spent an evening in my friend's reflection pool hide, hoping for an encounter with a Fox that had been visiting daily. Such is the way with wildlife watching — it's often unpredictable, and the Fox sadly didn't show. 

It didn't matter of course, as there were plenty of other visitors to keep us entertained. I took about a billion photos of Bank Voles, which I'm sure my friend is very blasé about as they basically live in the hide — but for me they were a pure delight to watch and photograph. I particularly like these shots of one peering out of one of its many little hideyholes.

Male Common Crossbill

Back on the Crossbills — as mentioned before, this spring offered my first real chance at photographing birds coming to a drinking pool in a local woodland. The bright red males were always the prize, and we probably had three different adult males visit over the course of the spring. As well as photos of them drinking, we also had the chance to photograph them as they paused in the trees above before descending to the water's edge. 

These striking finches were great value and a real draw this spring. More photos to come of course.

Hunting LEO

 

This is the first spring where I've known adult Long-eared Owls to go out hunting before sunset. Some evenings the males would be out two hours before sunset and would range quite far. It seems to be a good vole year, so I can only imagine they have been heading out early because of the size of the broods — I hadn't ever seen a brood of four before this spring (the last time anyone had a brood of four locally was in 2019).

We had come across hunting Long-eared Owls a few times in daylight in late April, but it was only when the young were branching that I checked to see if it was a regular occurrence. These shots were taken on one of the first evenings I waited. I kept my distance, as I hadn't had much experience of hunting Long-eared Owls before, so they are very much record shots rather than frame-filling images — but I like them.