No show from my local Barn Owls

With the prospect of a very pleasant and sunny summer's evening, I went out to look for my local Barn Owls as I haven't been for quite some time.  Things had changed a little since my last visit with one of the rough pasture fields having been cut and a new metal gate installed at the entry to what I always thought was a public footpath.

As I parked up the farmer was just leaving the field via this gate on his tractor and as I'd hadn't met him before I decided to approach him.  I'd been told by others that he wasn't particularly happy with people photographing the owls here, but he seemed OK to me and said it would be alright if I went not the field - he also said that it wasn't his anyway and that Peel Holdings who owned the field had installed the gate. He also mentioned that he'd seen a Barn Owl a short while ago in another field.

I went to my usual places here, and although there were quite a few birds about, the Barn Owls didn't show for me.  The most obvious birds here were the Song Thrushes with at least five or six singing out loudly.  This one perched quite nicely for the light.

There was also a Kestrel which I believe harasses the Owls for their prey, plenty of Swallows, Gulls and a Common Buzzard, none of which were really within photographic range.  So I came home a little disappointed, but at least I got a couple of pleasing photographs.

BBC Countryfile Calendar 2019 Entry.

So here's my three photographs for the 2019 BBC Countryfile Calendar.  I've never done this before and I don't expect to hear anything further as they don't really fit the theme of 'Beauty and the Beast', but I had the photos anyway and thought it as worth a try.

 

New Signature Logo for my Photos

When I saw a special offer, I decided to take the plunge and get myself a signature-style logo for my photos. This is the one I chose from the eight or so that I was offered.

It's better than anything I could have created and I can mess about with it a bit (like adding a bird silhouette or removing the tag line), so I'm quite pleased for £15.

Here's my first edit to add a Peregrine Falcon silhouette:

You might just see this appearing on a few of my better photos soon!

A Lovely Trip Down Memory Lane

Recent reports of a Savi's Warbler on Anglesey have had me wanting to go for a couple of weeks now and today was to be the day that I decided to look for this little bird, as it would have been a lifer for me. However, you may be wondering about the title - the reason for it is that we had a caravan on Anglesey for about ten years and it's where our kids grew up, being the only place we used to go in the holidays.

The story of our caravan is a long one which I won't repeat in much detail here except for the fact that we though we'd have it for life, because the (mad) little old lady who owned the site didn't seem to bother with the rules about how long caravans can stay on a site.  She also said she'd never sell up, until one day she did and everything changed.  

She was bought out by the Talacre Beach Caravan Company (similar to Haven) for a good few million pounds due to the amount and location of the land, who then proceeded to increase the site fees and force people to upgrade their caravans or leave as they were turning it into an upmarket country-club type facility with a golf course, swimming pool, bistro and other such yuppie delights.  Not for us, even if we could have afforded it, so we left - in a huff!  It's called Plas Coch which is near Plas Newydd just in case are you wanted to know.

Anyway, having the caravan here meant we got to know Anglesey very well and we'd often call it our second home.  Driving along the A55 Expressway through the tunnels at Conwy, Penmaenbach and Pen-y-Clip brought back a lot of memories and especially the one where our family game was to award 1000 points for the first person to spot Puffin Island from the Expressway - it wasn't really hard to spot it unless it was nightime or raining, but remembering to say it out loud was what caught our children out, so I nearly always won!

Crossing Britannia Bridge sent a little chill up my spine and I was back at the start of the new millennium as I looked out at the Menai Straits, the Marquess of Anglesey's Column with his statue on top and the statue of Nelson at water level.  I could also see Plas Newydd which wasn't far from Plas Coch and had to stop myself coming off the first exit after the bridge which would have taken me in that direction.

Instead I stayed on the A55 for a few junctions until I reached the one for Gaerwen.  I drove through remembering the Stermat supermarket and the shoe shop where we'd bought Robert some wellies and the onto Pentre Berw and Cors Ddyga Nature Reserve just past the village on the left.

Along with a few other people I spent a couple of hours trying to get a clear view of the distant Savi's Warbler in some reeds and gorse on this part of Malltraeth Marsh but although we could all hear it sounding like a low-pitched Grasshopper Warbler from time to time, I never got anything other than a small flitting object which could have been almost anything.  It didn't help that there were Reed Buntings, Reed Warblers and Sedge Warblers about and I think the only shots I got were of a distant hazy Sedge Warbler as it perched up on Gorse bush.  Very disappointing.

So I decided to put Plan B into action, which was pretty much foolproof at this time of year - visit Cemlyn Bay to see the Tern colonies there.  To get to Cemlyn I travelled up many more of the roads we used to use in our trips around Anglesey - if only I'd been a birder back in those days!  When I passed the Jam Factory I knew I was nearly at Cemlyn Bay and I thought to myself, the next time Sarah and I come here we really should stop for Tea and Scones!

The three main types of sea Tern here are Sandwich Tern, Arctic Tern and Common Term and all three were seen quite easily today as they flew over the shingle beach from the lagoon where they nest to the sea where they feed on Sand Eels.  They seemed to be going a little further than the bay to fish today and were quite difficult to pick up on their return journey as they fly so quickly calling all the way.

So the birds didn't disappoint here but I spent more time chatting to a couple of people than taking photographs, so I decided to cut the conversation short and head for a barn just up the road where a Little Owl is known to frequent. I found the barn quite easily but the Owls were nowhere to be seen.  I did manage a couple of shots of this Common Buzzard though.

And finally Plan C was to visit the Little Tern colony at Gronant Dunes near Prestatyn on the way home.  As it only just being past midsummer and a sunny day with few clouds, I knew I'd be able to stay out with some light until at least eight o'clock, so it was worth having a look in spite of it being a bit late in the season with many chicks having fledged.

The Little Tern colony is firstly fenced and then roped off with plenty of notices to avoid the public disturbing these ground nesting birds and there is usually a warden on duty during the day.  However, at gone 7:45pm I wasn't sure if someone would still be there, but there was.  Now I always obey all the rules so I kept away from the fences and ropes and headed for a patch of beach where some of the Terns were bathing.  There were plenty of Ringed Plover about peeping away as I made my way down the beach and I managed to get a couple of flight shots of fledgling Little Terns.

I didn't really get to within a 100 metres of the Terns when most of them took off as if spooked by something.  I couldn't see any large Gulls or birds of prey, but I didn't think it was due my presence either, so why they flew I really don't know.  But when I looked over at the hide I could see some looking at me through binoculars.  I retreated from my position taking shots as I went and thought nothing more of it.

Juvenile Little Tern photo here ...

When I got back to the new gazebo structure at the end of the boardwalk before it rises to the viewing platform which overlooks the dunes, I sat down to chimp some of my shots.  As I was doing this I noticed two Police officers walking down the boardwalk towards me.

'That's a big lens', one said. 'Yes', I answered, 'You need it for small birds like these' (my standard response to this statement which so often gets made when photographers are out birding.). 'You heard any shooting?' he asked. 'No', I replied. 'We've been called out due to a report of shooting being heard', he went on. 'Well not by me', I said, 'except shooting photographs', I smirked. After asking me the way, they headed off in the direction of the hides and soon met up with a girl coming back from one, who stopped and chatted. I guessed she was one of the wardens and the person who had been looking at me.

All the time I was wondering, "Does she think my camera and lens is a gun and that I was firing at the birds and perhaps that's why they took off" - and so she called the Police, surely not.  But I was the only one on the beach at the time so I was puzzled all the while I walked back to my car.  The Officers had also returned along the same route so I stopped and asked them if she thought that I was shooting at the birds.  One of them said that she'd reported the shooting after hearing loud clicking noises near the Terns, but the Ifficer said that as soon as he saw me he thought it was probably just my camera - I really didn't think it was that loud!

So we had a slight laugh and that was the end of it. It didn't spoil my mini-trip down memory lane - how I wish it was still 2005 and me and my kids were still young.

Another Day with the Malham Peregrines

I had a wonderful day out with the Malham Peregrine Falcons today and met some lovely people to boot. A couple of people asked me what I did with my photos, so I told them about this blog and I'm going to put some shots up first - I'll write the report around them a little later.  If you do happen to read this post, please leave a comment in the box blow (you can do it anonymously and don't have to log in, just put your name in the text) and come back later to read the report. Thanks.

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A Short Break in the Lake District

A small digression from birding reports as it was my wife Sarah's birthday last week end and she wanted to go to the Lake District to get away from chores at home.  She booked a guest house for bed and breakfast in Ambleside and we used this as a base to do a couple of short walks and drives.

On the first day we visited Skelwith Bridge and did a triangular walking route around Elter Water and back.  After passing the Skelwith Force waterfall the wonderful Langdale Pikes could be seen as we walked along a flat section of the "Cumbria Way' path running alongside the River Brathay.

We stopped at the small village of Elterwater for a quick drink in the Britannia Inn before heading for Colwith Force (which we nearly couldn't find) and then back to the car at Skelwith Bridge.

Along the way Sarah managed to spot a Redstart, but with only a landscape lens on my camera there was no chance of a decent photograph.

The next day we headed uphill through the trees of Skelghyll Wood to Jenkin Crag, a small rocky outcrop on the western slope of Wastfell. After taking in the views we then descended to Stagshaw Gardens where the renowned rhododendrons were past their best.  However there were some very impressive American trees in the plantation here including a huge Douglas Fir.

From Stagshaw we ambled down to the water's edge at Waterhead taking in a coffee at one of the cafés whilst watching the ducks and Mute Swans with cygnets, before returning to the guest house In the afternoon we visited Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's 17th century farmhouse at Near Sawrey which is close to Hawkshead and which has been preserved as a time capsule of her life and some belongings.

After tea in Ambleside, we had a very pleasant evening meander around the Roman fort remains of Galava at the north end of Windermere. It's mainly just the foundations but is still very interesting and shows the layout of the settlement very well.  Along the River Brathay we saw Sand Martins, a Grey Heron, a brood of Canada Geese and some Swans with cygnets as well as a Jay raiding an irate Mistle Thrush's nest.

On the last day of our mini-break we went off in search of Stockghyll Force, a waterfall along the course of Stock Ghyll which flows into Ambleside from the north west.  We first came to a tall weir-type structure and wondered whether that was what they were calling the waterfall, but soon realised that there was something a lot larger and more impressive further up the steep-sided gorge.  We did see the compulsory Dipper and Grey Wagtails here though.

Crossing the bridge at the waterfall we descended back into Ambleside and explored the town a little more, including the small Bridge House which was built over Stock Ghyll more than 300 years ago, as a summer house and apple store for Ambleside Hall.

Finally, we took the (very) long way home via the amazing roads and scenery of Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass with the intention of calling in at Sizergh Castle before rejoining the M6 motorway. I managed to pick up the first Whinchat I've seen in a few years at the location shown in the photograph above,  but we arrived too late at Sizergh and decided to carry on home without stopping.

All in all we had a great time on our three-day minibreak - we should do this more often!