Owls are undoubtedly one of the more charismatic bird groups, (what with their night vision and ability to hear a pin drop at 40 silent wing beats) and I was lucky enough to see two species yesterday at either end of the county.
In the morning we witnessed a magnificent short-eared owl on Arne while pulling pines with a group of over twenty students from Poole and Bournemouth College. The owl was suitable reward for the students who were industry personified in helping to clear circa 4 ha of small pines in roughly the same number of hours.
Pine's are one of the great ongoing threats to heaths and must be controlled to maintain heather as the dominant plant type. The pines are the remnants of commercial timber plantations that engulfed our precious heaths to the detriment of the fragile and unique Heathland species, from Dartford warblers and nightjars to sand lizards and smooth snakes. Heaths are rather popular with short-eared owls too as the vegetation is of a height over which they prefer to forage over.
Short-eared owl... exactly who is watching who here? Photo by Luke Phillips.
Having returned from Arne and in the process of locking the hide beneath the cover of darkness I was surprised (and no little thrilled) to see a barn owl ghost in from Cheffey's, illuminated by the light scatter from the road. It passed just over my head before fading into the scrub of the Secret Garden. My very first Radipole barn owl.
Wow, two owls! It was...ahem, a hoot.
To learn more of the deep cultural - nay spiritual - significance of two owls click on the link below. I suspect that you'll be somewhat taken aback. I know I was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5xpPKktQ0w
The poor owl would have wished it had blinkers fitted when it saw Welsh Cakes leering at it down his lens!
How did Luke get the owl to put that balaclava on in the first place?
Brilliant pic Luke, and to think Nick saw 2owls in a day, woooaa!! Fantastic!
Seize the day!