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