23 January 2013

The cold and snowy weather is well into it's second week and I have been a little worried about whether the short-eared owls have finally abandoned my local patch. So I decided to brave the cold and go down this afternoon to see what is happening. I had some good news as I walked down towards the watch point when I bumped into a regular dog walker who told me he has seen a s-e owl chase off a kestrel last Sunday and had had it fly right over his head this morning. Whilst he was telling me, we were treated to a great view of a barn owl as it flew overhead. I slipped and slided my way down to the watch point and set myself up for a long, cold wait. The first thing I did was to pour myself a hot, steaming cup of tea before I started to scan across the valley. One of the regular kestrels was out hunting and the barn owl was still hunting along the edge of the copse on the northern edge, but there was no sign of the short-eared owl. I thought I might have seen it dip down into the grass out in the middle, but it was only the briefest of glimpses and couldn't confirm a thing. The kestrel then came dashing in and was calling as it went. It attacked something in the grass, which then jumped up and flew a short distance before disappearing again. I had been right, the bird I had briefly seen was indeed a short-eared owl. That was the only time I saw the owl whilst I was down my patch. I continued to wait in the cold for very little reward. I then heard a brambling calling from a near by tree and went over to have a look. Any ideas of not being rewarded for putting up with the cold immediately dissipated as I stood admiring a flock of 6 brambling and a couple of greenfinches. This is the best count of bramblings I have had for my local patch and I always have a lot of time for this beautiful species. Pleased with my efforts so far, I decided to go and have a look at the river to see if last years little grebe had returned. I arrived at the bridge, but only found the usual number of mallards present and so I decided it was time to return to my nice warm home. There is a drainage ditch that runs away from the cycle path along the way. I noticed what I first thought was a large leaf next to a bramble. I stopped to have a look and found it was in fact a water rail. I have recorded water rails on my local patch for the last two winters, but this is the first time I have actual seen one here and it rounded off what has been a superb couple of hours birding.