Lunt Lures Me In Again

The weather was great, blue skies, cold and sunny and the Owls had been showing yesterday, so off I went to Lunt Meadows again in search of them.  I am desperate to get some of those stonking close shots that many others have got, but as yet it just has happened for me.  It's largely down to a matter of luck, and fieldcraft of course.  And, as we always say, 'the more you go out the luckier you get.'

I met up with Phil 'Mossman' Boardman for the second time in about a week and we had a really good chat whilst walking slowly up and down the River Alt embankment, but seeing very little of particular interest.  Phil pointed out the locations that the Bitterns and Bearded Tits favour and a Sparrowhawk went for a Snipe over the Pumphouse Pool, but alas there were no Owls.

I took these two Stonechat photos at the wooden bridge over the Alt just to keep warm as it gradually became colder during the day. A Reed Bunting also appeared briefly.

One of the local Kestrels was hunting over its regular patch and so that became my next target for something to do.  Lunt is a great place to take Kestrel photos as you can get at eye level in many places as the quarter the fields near the embankments.

And, as it turned out, I got one of my best Kestrel photos ever, mainly because of the background I think. But still no killer Owl shots.