It has long been an ambition to see (or hear) all five species of Owl on the North Kent Marshes in a day. Today I was not too far off achieving that! I went to Bromhey Farm about 4pm to see if I was required to lock the Cliffe Pools car park gate as I do ocassionaly. There I met Sam the very affable Warden from Blean and Joe one of the interns, who told me he was just about to go off to the Cherry Orchard to see a Long-eared Owl seen regularly flying into it at dusk by Frank Cackett.
After about half an hour of watching the orchard, walk and field, Frank and his wife turned up and within ten minutes the L.E.O. obligingly swooped across the scrub and into the orchard.
Walking back to the car park a Tawny Owl was hooting it's characteristic hoo hoo-hooo hoo-o-o from the woods and a Little Owl pretty much heard or seen any evening anywhere from Gordon's Hide to the old Comms. building emitted the familiar kip, kip, kip, that will always betray its' presence.
So just after 5, I was at the Salt Lane RSPB Cliffe car park, no vehicles were present, I decided to sit in the car quietly and listen to the dark evening noises of the marsh, after the rumbling of distant thunder intermingled with fireworks I heard a call I hadn't heard for a while and couldn't immediately place, as I pondered on the sound, a pale stocky owl flew across my vision.Of course! I realised it was a Barn Owl. I locked up and went home a happy man.