Owlets and Tawny Owl.

 

Firstly a big thanks to Vyrva, His/Her Blog is how I came to know, it made my week! I saw three Owlets and one adult Tawny Owl plus a little stand off with a Fox. Plus a thank you to the two boys, volunteers, who shared the moment with me.

The first one I saw was the lone Owlet in the entrance to the hollow, nest site, Who knows! I do know the couple of Jackdaws hanging around were not please. While I took shots of the Owlet I became very aware of the alarm calls of Blackbirds around the back of the buildings. So I went for a walk around to the picnic area to the rear. There I met another two not so young gents, nice guys! We chatted about what is around and they asked if I had seen the Owlet, proudly I said yes and like school boys we traded our moments. Only as it turned out we had different moments! So we all went back to point out what we had each seen. The one in the hollow was keeping its head down and my new friends had to be content with seeing the shots I already had!

When we turned to look at their Owlet, it too had gone. Closer inspection of the area was eventually fruitful. Two much bigger Owlets sitting close to each other with an adult close by. The odd thing was this adult had no interest in us, it was looking to the rear. A Fox was trying to get at the Owlets. Now excuse the @%^£^£ *&%&^ %&$ …...... ^$^£......moment, but try as I did, and believe me I did. With all those branches and the angles needed to get all four in shot, I came away thinking, that shot was a complete miss. When I got home and looked again, I at least was happy and I’m sure anyone who loves their nature moments will understand! It was a heart stopping, breathtaking glimpse into the world we cherish!

Look very carefully at the right hand of this picture, the Fox is on its back paws ....................^......... and its head is turned to face the right of picture (car arriving in car park!) head above branch and legs and tail below!

The plan is to return just before sunset today and or tomorrow :-) so wish me luck and I hope you enjoy these shots, I know I did!! Oh and to the two old boys good luck with the rest of your trip up north and thanks.

John :-))