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Tuesday, 12 May 2020

A MIXTURE OF BIRDS ALL FROM OUR GARDEN.


With this awful Covid  still rampant , a friend died from it Saturday last,  God bless you George, I am involved in the dog world and serve on a  single breed dog committee for Golden Retrievers, we are a committee of eleven and two have had the virus, Ingrid bless her has survived. less of this morbid subject and onto the post.
I have lately spent a reasonable amount of time in our garden, firstly looking for the Peregrine Falcons also of an evening in my hide  watching and recording the activity of the Barn Owls.
I have a Schedule 1 licence issued by the BTO and have been informed that all ringing of birds has been cancelled but if possible to monitor the nest boxes and report back as previous, with our boxes having CCTV this makes the job considerably easier. I first put the cameras on last Tuesday the 5th  May, we have had signs the Owls have been around all Winter but have  avoided the cameras till then , upon checking the Male  Barn Owl  was in the smaller of the two boxes and the female was sitting in the larger box, I have no  idea as to how many eggs as she would not  get up but I will have the cameras on again soon so as to monitor the progress.
I have again seen the Peregrines, and yes this time they are Peregrines, confirmation by my pal Rhys 











Pigeon on our Roof.

Breakfast lunch and tea  for the Peregrines, and,y  hopefully they will be thinned  out as we have so many in our trees and around the area, the Peregrines can only do good.



Peregrine Falcon, our garden.

Last image taken with my large lens prior to me carrying out the repairs, this bird was about 200 metres away after this I managed to get the lens off the camera which I was told would be a difficult task but turned out to be not that bad, it was slightly jammed in place but once removed I took out the four screws  and replaced them with the four miniscule screws sent in the post and after this all is fine { until the next time}.



Male Barn Owl,  Large box.

This is the first image of the season as he was leaving on a hunting trip for the female, after this he took up residence in the smaller box  eher I'm sure he will remain until the young have fledged.


A quick look as to where the noise was coming from, these two images are taken at a high ISO,70,000 plus at  F4 as it was almost dark.



The Next four images were taken as I saw him move and kept my finger on the remote button. not good images but shows he does not hang about on leaving.
















Male Barn Owl leaving the small box.

He again left very quickly but stopped at the large box and went inside to visit the female, this is what we have monitored over previou years.




Another evening but this time he went away hunting and returned into the large box after a few minutes with a mouse.




Another evening and even darker, this taken at ISO 8000 + and again opened up to F4.




Buzzard, over the area where the Barn Owl boxes are situated.

Image taken over about 100 metres, lens certainly appears sharp enough in focus.





Sand Martin.

I'm not sure how I managed to get this image as the bird was as you can see going extremely fast in a dive, put it down as a lucky shot. 


Thank you for your visit I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did in the getting of the images and it just shows with a bit of luck the birds you can see in your garden.

20 comments:

  1. Hi John, lovely the photos of the Barn Owl, and the Peregrine Falcon, beautiful.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bob,
      At least this time I had a Peregrine, the Barn Owls seem to be a permanent feature.
      Stay safe,
      All the best,
      John

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  2. Hi John.
    It's not easy to photograph the Peregrine Falcons, so good work.
    Nice pictures of the owl's feathers :-)
    Can you give me the conditions to set up an owl nest box on the property ? Surface ? Height ?
    I have a lot of nesting boxes for passerines.
    My condolences for your friend :-(.
    Kisses and take care John.

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  3. Hi Nathalie,
    If you go onto the Barn Owl Trust site they give you all the details regarding Barn Owl boxes, the Owls require a clear access to the entrance to the box, any problems please email, we are so fortunate to have both Barn Owls and Peregrine Falcons around our land. We are so very sad for our friend George.
    You keep safe and be careful.
    JOHN

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  4. Hi John,
    A delightful bird to photograph. Now I will be able to photograph mine, so watch out. Stay safe, Mike.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mike,
      I will keep a watch for your bird, at least my lens is back in working order,
      Stay safe and well
      John

      Delete
  5. como me gusta ver a esa lechuza asomar por la puerta de la caja nido, es un verdadero placer. Enhorabuena John, gran trabajo!!! Un fuerte abrazo desde el norte de España.

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  6. Hola German,
    Nuestro buho le echa un vistazo a la entrada es tan bueno para nosotros , ya que tenemos otra temporada en marcha, revisare manana para ver cuantos huevos tenemos,
    Un abrazo de los Midlands, mantente a salvo amigo,
    Jojm

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  7. Hi John!!! Lovely pictures of the Barn Owl... Be safe, the Covid19 is very dangerous... I,m sorry for your friend..
    Happy weekend..

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  8. Hi Ana,
    We are very hopeful that the Owls are breeding again, we are still staying in lockdown, young friends are shopping for us, it is such a dangerous and frightening virus. You stay safe and well. I is so sad for our friend.
    My best wishes
    John

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  9. Hi John, good to read you managed to fix the lens on your camera. Great to see you had a Peregrines coming over your garden. What would I do to have a Barn Owl breading box near by. You ar so lucky. No change I will have this that close on my balcony two flights up.
    Take care,
    Roos

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  10. Hi Roos,
    From what Nikon say this is not an uncommon fault with this lens, hopefully all is ok with the lens. Lucky to see the Peregrine again, I intend to keep a watch for them visiting again. W are so fortunate with the Barn Owls, I will be out in my hide later this evening keeping a watch. Not the best place for an Owl Bos two flights up as you say,
    Stay safe and well,
    John

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  11. I love the Barn owl with black eyes peeking out.. Be safe

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  12. Hi Ana,
    He keeps changing boxes makes it difficult to predict where he is going to appear.
    You keep safe and well.,

    Be careful
    John

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  13. How sorry I am to hear of your friend's passing John. This is a terrible thing we all seem to be going through right now. Your photos keep us all going I'm thinking. They really are brilliant and fun to see. Thank you so much and you and your dear wife and all your loved ones, please stay happy, safe and healthy. All the best, Denise x

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    Replies
    1. Hi Denise,
      It came as such a shock with George, one minute he appeared ok. and then??, it is sch a sad and frightening time for us all, these researchers have got to get a vaccine. So pleased you enjoyed my garden birds,
      Thank you for the good wishes and we will stay as safe as we can,
      All the best and stay safe
      John

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  14. Very sad to learn of the death of your friend, John. I hope that the members of the committee, including yourself, who have so far remained safe continue to do so. In some ways I think you are about as lucky a person as one could imagine. You have these wonderful Barn Owls right there to observe at will, and now you have the important task of monitoring them, something many of us would sign up for in a heartbeat. And you also have the added bonus of a local Peregrine Falcon to observe. Pigeons beware! I suspect you are on the menu! Take good care, John. All the best from Miriam and David

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    Replies
    1. Hi Both
      It was a shock with our friend, it suddenly seemed very close to home, Ongrid is still improving and the rest of us are fine.
      It is so true, who could ask for better having such a task to monitor Bern Owls, I manage to have s=a few hour every evening in the hide , all that land so no danger of Covid , just these wonderful birds to watch.
      have seen a Peregrine twice today and the Pigeons are certainly not so brave.
      You both stay safe.
      John and Veg

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  15. Oops ....... that is sad news John that your friend George died of corona. With this my condolences. I read that two people from the association have the virus and only Ingrid survived it.

    The ringing of the birds will indeed not continue and that is the same here. You can now follow them with the camera and that is really nice to see :-)
    Great that you have seen the peregrine falcons and I love the photos of the barn owl looking out of the nest box!
    You could photograph the buzzard flying overhead very nicely.

    Stay safe and careful John.
    Cordial greetings,
    Helma

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    Replies
    1. Hi Helma,
      It came as a terrible shock when we heard about George, it just goes to show it pays to keep away from hospitals. I am monitoring the Barn Owls for the BTO and the report will be submitted at tghe end of the season.
      What more can you ask for on your own land with Barn Owls, Peregrines etc.
      You stay safe Helma
      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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