A Couple Of Hours Spent Locally - Wednesday 1st October
All through the Summer we have had a growing number of House Sparrows that have taken up residence in our garden. There are probably three families numbering in excess of 21 which can be seen in the garden either bathing in the pond, feeding on the feeders or just in and around the bushes at the back of our garden. The bushes have become alive with the sound of their chattering, not that I can hear it naturally but Jan has recorded it on her phone so that I can listen to it. The collective noun for Sparrows is host or tribe.
We had planned to spend the whole day out today but once again my stomach problems prevented this. We made plans to spend just a couple of hours locally ending up where we had seen the Barn Owl yesterday.
We didn't go out until about 5pm when we made our way up to The Arms at Bodney. Once again we heard plenty of birds in the hedgerows but we didn't see many of them. We made our way around to the Cressingham Road parking up at the junction. Here we saw a Crow and a Green Woodpecker. Although the Woodpecker was quite close to us, it was impossible to get any shots or video of it because there was a lot of tall grass between us and the Woodpecker and the camera steadfastly refused to focus on anything except the grass.
We moved up to the Range Gates and parked there for a while, Jan could hear birds in the trees behind us but only managed to see a Blue Tit and a male Blackcap before we moved down to the bridge over the Watton Brook.
Directly in front of us was a dead tree where we had seen about 40-50 Starlings gathered a few evenings previously; this had now doubled to about a hundred. We were hoping to see them take to the air in one group but they took off in 3 tranches and flew off separately. We were deliberately not spending our usual amount of time at any one spot because we wanted to try and keep to our plan.
Starlings In A Dead Tree
We then made our way to the slip road between the Swaffham and Watton Roads. Our plan was to get there by about 6.45pm and see if we could see another Barn Owl. As we drove down the lane we could see two Barn Owls criss-crossing the lane and quartering the fields either side of the lane. We pulled up in our usual spot and watched these two Barn Owls hunting all around us. I presume that they were a pair because they were quite co-ordinated. At one point one of the Barn Owls flew directly at the car and looked as if it was going to fly in through the open window, it was so close to us (no more than 3 metres) you could quite clearly see its face and features. There is always a dilemma when you are so privileged to be close to any of our wildlife whether to try and get any pictures or video or just to watch. There was no contest tonight because we were just so awestruck by the spectacle of these two Owls that we all could do was just sit and watch. We watched these Owls who kept popping in and out of our sight for about 30 minutes before they both gained height and flew towards Great Cressingham. Jan also heard a Tawny Owl as well.
Don't you just love it when a plan works out as you intended?
After the Owls had departed we were treated to another spectacle, this time a man made, rather than a natural one. Incendiary flares began to fall slowly over the STANTA (Stanford Training or Battle Area). These are quite impressive we've seen them before during night exercises. They appear out of nowhere and slowly descend giving off an incredibly bright light. I presume that they are dropped from an aeroplane and descend via a parachute because their descent is quite slow. Looking them up on Google it says they can be deployed by Aircraft, Artillery, Rocket or Hand Held Launchers. These were at quite an altitude when they first came into sight.
We returned home via Threxton hoping that we might get sight of another Owl or Deer but no such good fortune but when we got back home Jan heard a Little Owl in the trees which run along the side of the field behind us.
When we got in I was greeted by some sad news that another two Hen Harriers fitted with satellite tracking equipment had gone missing in Northern England presumed shot. Also today a Norfolk Gamekeeper from the Stody Estate was convicted of poisoning 11 Birds of Prey including 9 Buzzards. The RSPB have released a rather harrowing video of the evidence against this man. I don't mind admitting it brought tears to my eyes. It is not pleasant viewing but you can see it at:
Remember keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.
No comments:
Post a Comment