Having spent most of the day in the back garden, I decided to end the day down at the Obs and do a bit of bird watching in the surrounding fields and quarry. Having parked up in the Obs car park, I crossed the road and I started to walk up the slope opposite, As I did so I met Andy, a birder who has recently moved here and together we walked to the top of the slope. No sooner had we got there when a Short-eared Owl appeared on the other side of the 'valley'.
It circled a couple of times before settling on a mound, but disappeared into the undergrowth when a group of photographers came off one the main path and started walking towards it. It was a bit disappointing to watch, as the photographers who had large lenses started walking towards the owl causing it to hide up in the undergrowth. When it failed to reappear the photographers then proceeded to walk across the field to the path on the other side. Hmm
Having watched it briefly from our advantage point which was a good 200 metres away, we headed back down the slope to the Obs Quarry in hope of seeing a Little Owl. Sadly they weren't showing so Andy headed off back to Southwell in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Barn Owl which has been seen there recently.
I had a message (after I'd got home) from Andy saying he had seen one heading down towards the Obs. And sure enough at 5:55pm, as I was leaving the Obs car park, there was a Barn Owl feeding in the Crown Estate Field opposite the Obs entrance. I watched it for a good few minutes before it headed off up the field.
Having watched it briefly from our advantage point which was a good 200 metres away, we headed back down the slope to the Obs Quarry in hope of seeing a Little Owl. Sadly they weren't showing so Andy headed off back to Southwell in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Barn Owl which has been seen there recently.
I had a message (after I'd got home) from Andy saying he had seen one heading down towards the Obs. And sure enough at 5:55pm, as I was leaving the Obs car park, there was a Barn Owl feeding in the Crown Estate Field opposite the Obs entrance. I watched it for a good few minutes before it headed off up the field.
Before that though I had stuck around the Quarry, in the hope that a Little Owl might come out as the light began to fade. Sadly it didn't but as I looked back across the Crown Estate Fields the dark phased Short-eared Owl appeared in its usual location which is just north of the Higher Lighthouse.
In the quarry itself there was a Kestrel sat high up on a rocky ledge and then unexpectedly it flew down and landed on the Little Owls ledge and promptly fell asleep.
In the quarry itself something was upsetting the Blackbirds and in the end a total of 5 birds were all 'clucking' away at something in the deep ravine. Probably a fox waking up!!
Also in the quarry were 2 Song Thrushes and a third bird in the Obs garden. In the field next to the quarry a male Stonechat.
Here are a few images from this evening:
A very distant shot of one of the 2 Short-eared Owls in the Top Fields this evening.
Sadly when it landed, a group of photographers with big lenses closed in on it and it disappeared into the undergrowth.
Always a few Kestrels here. This one had just devoured a Lizard was looking for its next appetiser.
Later at the quarry the same/different Kestrel was perched on the rock face. Ten minutes later it..........
Birds Recorded: 2 Kestrel, Pheasant, Herring Gull, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Short-eared Owl, 10+ Skylark, 1 Meadow Pipit, Magpie, 2 Raven, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Wren, Dunnock, 1 Stonechat, Robin, 5 Blackbird (all in the Obs Quarry), 3 Song Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and 2 Greenfinch.
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On this day..........
2018Today's Sightings Here