Friday 20 December 2013

Short-eared Owl

RSPB - 1030hrs - mild, sunny, sw 2 - Nothing new on the bird reserve as far I could make out. The Black-necked Grebe remained on Burrowes amongst the many ducks, Coot and gulls and there were several Chiffchaffs calling in front of Firth. The fields at Boulderwall remained full of birds and a Great White Egret was on Cook`s Pool with another at the south end of ARC.
Littlestone Golf Links - 1500hrs - News filtered through via OL, from the golfers, that a Short-eared Owl had been seen hunting the fairways these past ten days, and sure enough in near perfect weather conditions one was on the wing this afternoon. It was working the rough ground between the road and the green-roofed barn and twice plummeted onto some unsuspecting little critter in the grass. This winter, so far, has not been notable for this cracking day-flying owl, which is one of `those birds` that no matter how long you`ve been birding is always a pleasure to see; a bit like Bittern, Hobby, Bearded Tit or Firecrest.

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