Owls

Back again at 4.30 today

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Amazing!!

Another friday afternoon, bunked off work early and met a owl again. It screeched at me, which is the first time I have heard a owl of this sort say anything. Why does it get dark when the owls appear? Are the owls not what they seem?

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This is so fucking rad. My most substantial owl spot to date has been watching one alight from a fence post and immediately fuck off into the darkness. Probably had the thing in sight for about 5 seconds.

Owls mostly hunt at night when other predators are not around . Listen at dusk for the last sheep crow and blackbird to go silent then imagine listening for your food on a silent wing and being able to see in the dark.
Seeing one during the day means they are hungry . 3 voles per night minimum .

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Indeed - and part of the reason for these photos being so grainy and blotchy is that I was cranking the gain up to 12800 ISO. The blackbirds did overlap with the owl, and I saw a mouse in the grass shortly before owl appeared.

Yeh they don't like going out in the rain as they don't have waterproof feathers, so if you have had a few wet nights they start coming out earlier or staying out in to the day time

Went owling again. One of its dives was about 20 feet away and I heard the thwunk of owl hitting vegetation. It then flew within 10 feet of me, apparently unaware of my presence.

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apparently unaware of my presence

Looks like they clocked you in that second shot!

Yes indeed, it was watching me closely at that point, but then seemed to forget about me before its close dive.

Today there were two of them

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Brilliant - keep the pics coming!

Last shot of the day, 1/60s hand held at 400mm with no image stabilisation, just lots of shots deleted due to camera shake.

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And again

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I presume you have logged your sightings with the local barn owl group . It all helps

No - thanks for the suggestion, I see there is a group in Aylesbury.

Just now

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Second pic is great

Thanks - owl appeared slightly earlier than usual today.

Sadly no pics but a barn owl flew over me on Sat night as I was smoking a fag. Haven't seen one for years.

I woke to this sound today
https://on.soundcloud.com/k7HVq4Cfq5KANgiq8
And then went out to see this sight

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I accidentally wandered down to that field again as the sun went down today and before I knew it, I had taken 157 photos. This was my favourite.

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Wonderful

And another view (sorry Mr Richter, I couldn’t help it)

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Magic!