OUR BARN OWLS AND A VERY VERY HOT OSPREY DUTY, PLUS A QUICK EVENING TRIP TO EYEBROOK.

Header
This shows our Barn Owl Box set up, the male is in the larger box on the right and the female is sitting on her eggs in the smaller box.

Even though we have been having some extreme  temperatures our female Barn Owl has sat solid throughout and the Male has arrived every evening from his box {next to hers} and kept her well fed. It has been awful to watch her panting in the heat but the heat is diminishing so she should be more comfortable, I had the camera on this morning and she appeared to be very comfortable.

I have managed to look at the Males leg and no ring is visible so these birds are a completely new pair, not sure as to what happened with the previous birds after the problems with the Kestrels, we are not seeing anything of the Kestrels either.

Male Barn Owl leaving the large Box.

This image was taken at 21.55 hrs and was almost dark so a very high ISO, I am going to have to get the use of higher ISO as the nights draw in, get ready Nikon, I'm on my way.

After this he flew to the Smaller box and his mate, as you can see no sign of a ring on this bird. 

Female sitting on the precious eggs.

Awful images I'm afraid but the best I can do, both boxes have cameras in. 

The six eggs {that are seven as she has laid one more} not sure as to how many will hatch.

A VERY VERY HOT OSPREY DUTY.

Having driven from home to Rutland Water with the Aircon on full blast, I at least arrived fresh but this did not last long, the car thermometer was showing 36 degrees and the same was showing at the centre.

I had thought on the trip over that we would have very few, hopefully no visitors, but talking to Marie in the centre we were all amazed that over sixty people had been in the hide though the morning and were still arriving in silly numbers so we had to go to the hide and swelter. on arrival in the hide the thermometer was showing 37 degrees. we were lethargic, the Ospreys were lethargic and Helen who I was on duty with said "we have heard no birds singing on the walk down" something I must admit I hadn't noticed until she said it but it was true.

The Ospreys the bulk of the afternoon spent the time sat high up in the Poplar trees opposite the hide, some 340 metres away with the female staying close to protect them but the male had been away on a fishing trip since 08.00 hrs, only to arrive back with a fish at 14.45 hrs but I'm sure he had been tucked away somewhere in the trees before fishing.

Juvenile Osprey, Waderscrape Hide.

The Juveniles were all tucked away in the Poplar trees trying to keep cool.

Eventually the juvenile Male, 056 flew onto the camera post.

Quickly to be followed by the adult female onto the 'T' post .

Landing on the 'T'post. and she was followed by 33 with a fish onto the nest, but I missed this shot as I was talking to a friend who had called to ask about his favourite birds.

 Three Juveniles from left to right 054 F, 055 M with the fish, and 057 F.

All four juveniles with 054,  055 and 057 on the nest and  056 on the camera post. 

056 then had a fly about on a practice fishing trip and put the fear of god into the Coots. 

And then landed towards the top of one of the poplars. 

Great Crested Grebe, Deepwater Hide.

On the way back to the centre and car park, we stopped at the hides to hopefully cool down a little, managed to see these birds and drip sweat over the floor. 

A QUICK EVENING VISIT TO EYEBROOK TO SEE THE OTTER PUPS.

I had a call from a friend to say a pair of young Otters and the mother were being seen near the inlet bridge to the reservoir, he had been that morning with his wife and they had appeared.

So I had a quick trip over after getting my wifes tea and taking a pack up for myself. On arrival I found three people already in place, two who had been the previous evening and had got some wonderful images of the youngsters playing. 

They all arrived after a few minutes and we could see the lily pads moving below us as they moved down stream, we had splashes as if some one had fallen in, large bow waves where they were swimming just below the surface but no sign of the pups, at one point the female was whistling them from under the bridge we were standing on.

I had a wonderful but frustrating evening and will have another try soon.

On arriving I had a quick visit to have a look at the Osprey nest at Site O. No sign of the Male but the Female sits on the 'T' post  and it appears to be only one young on the nest.

I then drove down to the reservoir to have my tea prior to going on Otter watch and spotted this Cygnet with mum, my how its grown over the last two weeks

The another Swan was on the far side of the reservoir with six cygnets. 

Canada Geese, opposite Stoke Dry village.
Whilst I was having tea these birds flew over from the reservoir heading for the fields. 

The section of the Eye Brook where the Otters had been seen, all I saw was bow waves and splashes but it was still enjoyable. 

The Water lilies down  stream of the bridge that we saw moving as the Pups moved down stream.


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

MORE NEWS ON THE BARN OWLS AND ANOTHER OSPREY DUTY.

Sorry for the late post but I have been spending a considerable amount of time of the evenings out on Barn Owl watch. I am seeing birds every evening but not always managing any images when they appear when it almost dark.

The last few evenings all I have seen is the Male, so hopefully the female is sitting on eggs, I intend to give them a few more days and then I will put on the cameras to find out as to what is going on in the boxes.

Male Barn Owl, Small Box.

This bird suddenly appeared , luckily I had the camera with me in the car so it was wind up the ISO and have a try, he was away soon after I  managed the image. All the following images are taken from in the car at a distance of approx 80 metres.

 Male again, this time a little later, but again he did not hang about and was away.

This time he came into the doorway and then turned around and went back into the box. 

Only to appear 35 minuted later and  stand on the front of the box for a couple of minutes.

These taken at ISO 22800 and propping the lens on the car wing mirror .

OSPREY DUTY.
11th July.

I arrived at the centre at 12.30 and upon seeing Marie, was told that the last of the four young had fledged at 07.55 hrs that morning, this being the Male Osprey, 057, he had apparently flown from the nest only to land on the T post just above the camera , and then spent approximately 2 hrs plucking up the courage to fly over to the next T post, by the time I arrived at Waderscrape Hide he was confidently flying around the nest as if he was an experienced bird, wonderful to see. The young fledged as follows, 055 { male} 2nd July. 054 {female} 3rd July. 056 {Male} 4th July. and finally 057 {female} 11 th July.
It has been wonderful to watch these birds as they have raised the young with both adults feeding the chicks, but with all four flying more food will be required to be supplied by 33/11.

It was also a sad afternoon as Shelagh is moving to Norfolk in a fortnights time so this will be our last duty together, she will be really missed by the project as she has been doing duties since the birds were first introduced to the reservoir and were kept in cages on Lax Hill.

Male Osprey, 33/11 on the camera 'T' post.

This is where the male sat when i took over duty, he remained on this perch for about an hour and then flew but I took my eyes of him for a minute whilst talking to visitors and I lost hime unfortunately.

All four of the young birds together in the fallen Poplar. 

Female 057 flew across and took up the spot that 33/11 had vacated.
  

Not sure as which juvenile this is, I can read only 05 on the ring.

The remaining three in the Poplar, 054, 055 & 056. 

After 057 flew to the nest, the adult female flew onto the camera post. 

057 and another sibling on the nest keeping an eye on her. 

Eventually another juvenile lands on the nest and one joins the female on the camera post. 

 Juvenile Moorhen, Wadersrape Hide.

All three of the young were about in the channels but this was the only bird I managed an image from.

Female Mallard, Waderscrape Hide.

Flew in and landed but departed soon after. 

Common Tern, Deepwater Hide.

On my way back to the centre car park I called in at this hide and managed some images of the Terns, such agile aerobatic birds. 

Same bird, just on another dive and hover. I love the fact that Helma calls these "Fish Thieves".



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