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Thursday 7 September 2017


 A VISIT TO RUTLAND AND THE BARN OWLS.



Sorry for the blog being so late, but I unfortunately had the Flu over the Bank Holiday weekend and still suffering with the after effects.



Richard and myself managed an afternoon out and had a visit to Rutland Water visiting our Little Owls sites on both the outbound and return journeys and seeing nothing in either direction, but we did hear two Little Owls call.

Rutland Water was really a bit of a disaster, very little of consequence to see as many birds are on the way South and we are waiting for the Northern birds to come South.

Richard had a wander round looking for Dragonflies that seemed absent, it has unfortunately been one of those Summers {if that's what you call it} that has not been conducive to these beauties appearing, we to be truthful other than early Summer when we saw considerable numbers of Emperor Dragonflies, the weather has been dire with large amounts of rain, wind and cold.

After our visit to Rutland we visited Eyebrook Reservoir for our teas and hopefully some sightings of the last few Ospreys that were about. 

As of today no Ospreys are on site at Rutland Water, they are all heading South to warmer climes, wish I was with them, could do with some good weather.









Southern Hawker Dragonfly, between Little Owl Sites 11 & 12.

This spotted by Richard as we drove down the road and we saw it land on the verge, so window down and out with the 600 mm and this was the result, Richard should have got considerably better results as he virtually had the lens touching the dragonfly.



RUTLAND WATER. 



Little Egret, Lagoon 4, Sandpiper Hide.

I was the only person in the hide {which is never a good sign}, so I am always very careful in opening the windows so if anything is close I don't disturb it. I had no cause to worry, this was the closest at about 60 metres. 





It then after a few moments decided to fly up to the other end of the lagoon.






Great Crested Grebe & Juveniles.

Always think the Juveniles are so beautiful with the head stripes. 





EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.


We stopped for a short time and had our teas when an Osprey appeared carrying a really large Rainbow Trout, I'm sure many anglers on the water would be cursing seeing the bird get away with such a trophy.




Male Osprey with large Rainbow Trout. {Awful Image}

This bird being chased by a gull appeared whilst we had our teas carrying this large Rainbow Trout.






OUR BARN OWLS.


We still have two Juveniles Barn Owls with us, the male and one female, They appear reasonably together most evenings but are tending to get later and its getting more difficult to get any images. 

I think the second female has also dispersed leaving us with just the Juvenile Male. 





Juvenile Male Barn Owl.

Usually the first bird to appear, sometimes its just a case of head out of the box and then retire back in.  




But this evening he came straight out and stood in the front of the box for a couple of minutes. Mind it was still almost dark.




Juvenile Male.

Giving his serious look. 











Juvenile Male.
Wind blowing the feathers on the back of his head. 



Having flown up into the trees at the back of our land, he sat and watched for about five minutes, managed this image without falling out my chair.



Juvenile Female.

Have not seen her since taking this image. 



How to tell if a box is in use, look for the dust on the box at the entrance.




Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did in the getting of the images.

Unfortunately the last ten days I have had the flu so hence not many comments posted on others blogs, sorry about this but will catch up in the next few days. 
 








18 comments:

  1. A lovely visit to Rutland Water, the Hawker, Little Egret, my favourite, Great Crested Grebe and her chicks. And of course back at home, Barn Owl, beautiful.

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  2. Hi Bob and thank you for your visit, it was a very slow visit at Rutland with very little to see, we are at that time of year where our birds are heading South and the birds from the North have still to arrive. The Barn Owls have been an absolute thrill for us this summer, fingers crossed we have a return next Spring. All the best, John

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  3. Very special shots as always John, loved them all. Do hope you feel better soon and are back to 100 percent.

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    1. HI Denise and thank you for the visit. Glad you enjoyed the post, it was really a bit of a put together as I had so few images. I'm feeling considerably better thank you. All the best, John

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    2. Good to hear you are feeling better John. Thank you for stopping by again. Coming back gives me another chance to look at these lovely photos :) All the best to you too. Denise

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    3. Hi Denise, Thank you for the good wishes and I am starting to feel much better, I am waiting to have my flu jab, a bit late as for what has happened. Following your trip with interest. All the best to you both. John

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  4. Hello John,
    I really enjoy this post!
    I too saw fewer dragons this season but I think it is more due to destruction of the environment here than anything else. This A. cyanea male is gorgeous, I watched one fly around a mud pool in the woods looking for a female but none was present and I couldn't get a shot...
    I see an Osprey is still busy fishing in Eyebrook and he means business!!!
    A sustaining meal before he's on his way south.
    It is also wonderful to see how well it went for Barn owl family, great pics!
    Kind regards and enjoy your weekend :)

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    1. Hi Noushka, I was so lucky to be with Richard as he spotted the Dragon land at the side of the road so I took this image out of his car window. W have previous years managed some wonderful trips out just concentrating on Dragons but not this year. I think all the Ospreys are all well South, the bird at Eyebrook had certainly managed a good sized catch. I looked last night and one of the tracked birds was just North of Senegal and making great speed, seemed to getting about 400 miles a day.
      The Barn Owls have done so well and I am going out soon to see if the Juvenile Male is still with us or could we have one of the adults returned.
      All the best and have a good week. John

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    2. Thank for your feedback, John :)
      Wow, 400 mile per day they sure can fly these Ospreys!
      I am sure the Barn owls, probably the breeding pair, will stick around and breeding in the box again next season since they must feel secure there :)
      It is getting quite cold here, pleeeaase keep the rainy and cold weather up in the British islands!!!!
      Warm hugs and enjoy the rest of the week ;-)

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    3. Hi Noushka, they most certainly cover some ground per day, we had a talk by Tim early this year and they actually glide the whole way using thermals to gain altitude and then just keep heading South repeating the process, he got all the information from the satellite tracked birds, some 20,000 plus bits of information.
      Lets hope we have a return next season, we still appear to have the young male, perhaps if he leaves the adults will return as in previous years.
      The weather is awful in England at the moment, cold and rain and they are talking of a chance of frost for this evening.
      You have a good week.
      All the best, John

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  5. Hi John. Great shots of the Little Egret, and your Barn Owl shots are delightful. I'm pleased that you managed to keep yourself sane with the owls while you were ill. See you soon - - - Richard

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    1. Hi Richard and glad you enjoyed the Little Egret, so pleased you spotted the Dragon for my header shot. Just about to go out and see what if anything comes out of the Barnie box. See you soon, John

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  6. Really love the Little Egret in flight shots and specially like the male juvenile Barn Owl shot where he is 'looking down ' his nose - very snooty!!
    You have had an excellent year with your Barn Owls with many wonderful images which you have shared with us. Very envious! Perhaps the Little Owls will be more visible soon. Glad you are on the mend. You have had a tough time lately. See you soon. M


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  7. Hi Margaret, Glad you enjoyed the visit with Mr Snooty who is still with us, I am going out soon in the car to sit in the garden to see if he sticks his head out the box. I have been so very lucky this year with the Barnies but lately the weather has very much curtailed my efforts trying to get the last images. As you say hope we start to see some little Owls soon. Feeling much better but still feel washed out. See you soon. John

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  8. Hi John,
    I'm even later than you and I have no flu.
    You are fainted by the flu and wish you a lot of improvement.

    Your dragonfly is very beautiful but the little Egret is really beautiful!
    Flying you have been able to photograph them as well. Really top!
    The young foxes are well groomed.

    Hahahahaha .... amazing that the osprey caught a rainbow trout. Yes, many fishermen will curse inside, hahahahaha ...

    Beautiful to see the church owls again. Meanwhile, a few have gone away, but that's what's wrong with it. Great to follow the cycle of these beautiful owls through your site.
    I enjoyed it very much.

    Best regards and reward.

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  9. Hi Helma, we have had an early flu in our area that has laid numerous people low, I unfortunately happened to be on of them!!.
    Pleased you enjoyed the Dragonfly, we have a very poor summer for these beauties unfortunately.

    Little Egrets are a favourite of mine as you have probably noticed. Wonderful to see the Osprey with such a large trout.

    We are down to a single Barn Owl and I'm sure he will soon be on his way, we are obviously sad to see them go but as you say that's nature and we have put three more of these wonderful birds into the wild. Hopefully other people have enjoyed seeing these birds from the egg through to leaving. Fingers crossed for next year and the return of the adults to breed again. All the best and have a good week. John

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  10. Barn Owls and baby grebes - seems to me that's about as good as it gets, John. Your pictures also remind me of just how commonplace Little Egret has become - a species that was a great rarity just a few years ago.

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  11. Hi Both, We still have the young male Barn Owl with us and I can never miss a baby grebe, as you say we have so many Little Egrets at the moment and it was not that long ago we would have gone all over the country to see one. The Great Whites will more than likely go the same way I'm sure. All the best to you both, John

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About Me;


Titus White:
Hi I am Richard Peglers friend Titus White, and those who follow Richards posts will understand the name and reason for it. I have been birding with Richard for 3 years and a volunteer at Rutland Water on the Osprey Project for 2 years. My early images were taken on a Nikon D80 with a 70 - 200mm lens. I updated the lens to a 70 - 300mm VR lens but still was not happy with the results. Eventually when Nikon announced the D7100 I decided to change so upgraded the camera and also invested in a Sigma 50 - 500mm lens.
I first met Richard through Arthur Costello as I was having the occasional visit from Little Owls on our land. We eventually found the Little Owls through another contact about 100 metres away. Photo's will follow on future posts.
I have recently upgraded my camera to full frame, this is a challenge I am at the moment enjoying trying to get the best out of the beast.
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