MY LAST OSPREY DUTY {NEARLY} AND AN UPDATE ON THE BARN OWLS.

This is a post that was to be have been posted over three weeks ago but the Barn Owl activities unfortunately took over.

It's that time of the year again where the Ospreys all fly South,{ lucky birds.} so I turned up for my last duty ready to wish the adults well and I would see them again next year, the Juveniles having already departed previously only to find that by the time I arrived the birds had not been seen at all that morning so the hide was to be closed, it's not fair to let the public pay to see the adults that have gone.

I will give a quick update of the Osprey year.
31 adult Osprey returned to Rutland Water.
10 breeding pairs.
23 young Osprey fledged.
What a wonderful season.

Adult female on the T post with 057 {F} on the nest.

057 migrated on the 23rd of August with the adult female leaving with 33 on the 2nd of September

054 {F} sat to the left and 056 {M} with outstretched wing to the right.

054 {F} migrated on the 19th of August with 056 {M} away on the 24th of August.

055 not on an image as he hiding round the back of a tree migrated on the 23rd of August.

SO WITH NO OSPREY TO MONITOR I HAD A VISIT TO THE EGLETON RESERVE.

I drove back from Lyndon to Egleton for a walk around the reserve not expecting to see much as birds are leaving and heading South, but the birds to arrive and over Winter are still much farther North.

It was a lovely afternoon for a walk around but not much to see.
It gave me the opportunity to use the new camera in daylight and start to get topside of  my settings, which are so different to the previous camera. 

Adult Moorhen, Grebe hide.

A long distance image for a trial shot of just over 100 metres.

Little Egret, Shoveler Hide.

When I arrived in the hide I had seven Little Egrets around but none ventured very close. 

Great White Egret, Shoveler Hide.

Again a trial image, this bird was just over 200 metres away. 

Canada Goose, Shoveler Hide.

This bird decided to take flight, I could have done with a higher ISO.

Grey Heron, Buzzard Hide.

Closest bird seen, always difficult to take an image of a Heron. 

Drake Mallard, Grebe Hide.

These bird are going well into eclipse and sat on this little island about 150 metres away. 

A QUICK VISIT TO EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.

On my arrival I noticed a considerable number of people  on the bridge so I had to drive up and investigate. On arrival I was informed that we had a very rare Damselfly, six of them in total, this being a Willow Emerald Damselfly, the first ever sighting in Leicestershire and Rutland. I unfortunately did not have the best of kit with me for getting any decent images, so it had to be a 600mm lens hung over the side of the bridge and hope for the best.

Willow Emerald Damselfly, Inlet Bridge Eyebrook Reservoir.

Most of the time they were too close for the lens to focus, everybody else wanted them to come closer, I had to wait for them to go away so as to get a focus. This damselfly appears to be expanding its range at a really phenomenal rate. 
  

I then went around to my normal spot to sit and have my lunch, suddenly I heard a familiar sound, the cob went onto the floor of the car, I shot out the car with the camera, I had not set up the tripod so it was hand hold and hope for the best.

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Avro Lancaster Bomber PA474.

This aircraft rolled off the production line on the 31st of May 1945 and joined the flight in 1957 upon its formation, one of only two surviving Lancasters that are licenced to fly, the other being in Canada. This aircraft is based and maintained at RAF Coningsby.

Only upon working on the images did I notice one of the flight crew sat in the centre gun turret.

Buzzard again whilst having my lunch.

I had hardly got back into the car after seeing the Lancaster when this bird suddenly appeared,  so it was cob on the floor again and still without the tripod get some quick images.

Little Owl Site No. 6. On the way home.

At long last a Little Owl to get an Image from, I have seen one other this year but that was flying and I was driving .

UPDATE ON THE BARN OWLS.

All appears still to be going to plan and the Owlets are still growing at a good rate. Unfortunately the adults are not appearing any earlier and with the darker evenings it's  becoming increasingly difficult to get images. However the Owlets are starting to show in the doorway but when it's virtually dark.
Again all the images are taken at ISO 102,400.

Male Barn Owl leaving the large box.

The female had departed about 10 minutes earlier and I missed her, having a snooze in the hide??

Female leaving the Large box.

This time I was alert and she appeared from the box I expected her to come out from, again about 10 minutes before the male.

Female flying past the big box.

I had the CCTV cameras on in the small box where the Owlets are in residence late in the afternoon and we had no sign of the adult female, so I went out early and sat with the camera set on the exit to the  large box. However she did the dirty on me and came out of the small box and flew passed the entrance to the large box I had the camera fixed upon when it was virtually dark. Very poor image but trying for the sympathy vote. ISO 102400 so no chance of freezing the wings

Owlet showing in the entrance to the small box.

I was having difficulty in seeing this youngster due to the dark. It Was a case of press the remote button and hope for the best.



Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed as much as I did in the getting of the images.
Still a steep learning curve with the new camera.
Iapologse I must apologise for not visiting other blogs and leaving comments but I have only just got out of hospital  after having a very mild stroke which I must take as a warning

RINGING THE YOUNG BARN OWLS.

At last the evening arrived when we were going to ring the youngsters, this was at last the time when we would find out as to how many young we had.

When trying to check the numbers with the CCTV cameras in the box we have had problems with some dirt getting onto the left hand side of the lens on the camera at the far end of the box {Where I have managed all the previous images} and the camera at the other end of the box, pointing towards the entrance had been knocked and was pointing more down than previous. This meant I could not see properly into the corner of the box and as the youngsters had all moved to this end to be nearer to the food supply entrance with the adults, counting them was very difficult.

It in the end was a wonderful evening with us ringing five Owlets, all of a good size and looking very healthy, and it appears this year we got the timing correct with the size of the birds.

So let's get onto the images for you. 

Rhys on duty with the net to stop any runners escaping and Andy getting ready to open the box. 

The box is open, so what have we got.???? 

With a closer look I can one. 

 Andy was in quickly and out came all five and put in bags to be  lowered down for ringing.

Owlet 1, ring Number GR41963.

Primaries showing well, this was the oldest bird, first to hatch.

Just could not resist a head shot. 

I wonder if this is the bird that fell from the box, have we met before,. ??? It didn't seem to recognise either Christine or me. 

Owlet 2, ring Number GR41964.

Not so advanced as number 1 but feathering showing .

Again a head shot. 

Owlet 3, ring Number GR41965.

Very similar size wise to previous bird, could be slightly older. 

Again a head shot.

Owlet 4, ring Number Gr41966.

This bird did plenty of wing flapping and appears more advanced than the previous two. 

Again a head shot. 

Owlet 5, ring Number GR41967.

Appears to be the third oldest of the young.

And of course the head shot. 

My friend Rhys with his Owlet prior to them being returned to the box. 

The three happy ringers with the five, Christine on the left,  Andy in the middle and Rhys on the right, we both thank you for you giving your time to ring these wonderful birds. 

An excellent ending to the evening, after this, the birds were returned to the box and after about 20 minutes the adults appeared from the larger box and went away hunting for food and returned within a matter of about 15 minutes.

Both Rhys and Andy said how bad the smell was in the box, glad they had that job, I only had to take the images. 



Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed as much as I did in the getting of the images, we all had a wonderful evening, not sure about the young however.