Adder Time.

 With all the Antarctica and Owl blogs, I've been getting a bit behind on the blog posts, but with summer arriving the focus has gone back to getting closer to our smaller wildlife.

However, it was back in early March, when Lisa and I tried for the local Adders. I love seeing these incredible animals, and most years I head off to one of my favourite sites to look for these as they come out of hibernation. Thinking back to when I was a kid, I was petrified of snakes. Probably from all the negatives that circulated in those days. I still remember racing nearly a mile home when I saw a Grass Snake swimming in a ditch!! Today, I would love to see this again. At that time I became determined to lose that fear of snakes, and I forced myself to study them. I'm really glad I did that, as now I love seeing them.

Anyway, on the day that we went looking for them, we found 11 Adders, my biggest count at this site for many years. A wonderful start to our springtime wildlife watching. We also saw a couple of Comma's.

Male Adder.

Male Adder.

I always try to photograph these animals without disturbing them, although at this site they are used to many dog walkers passing by, so are quite used to human activity. They do however also move often to an area with more sun, as the day moves on. I found one Adder as it was on the move to a very warm sunny patch, and once he had settled he was very approachable. It is always a good feeling when after taking the photos, they are still settled in the same spot, as was the case with this Adder.

Male Adder, basking in the warmth.

It was then walking back to the car park when I spotted this lovely Comma.

Comma.

Short-eared Owls.

 During the late winter, I spent a lot of time watching and photographing the Short-eared Owls that were using a rough meadow in the Ouse valley.

Over the years I have often tried to get some good photos of these beautiful birds, but with little success. With a much more concerted effort this winter, and with the birds being quite local, it was easier to spend the hours needed to learn their habits. It certainly was a lot of hours spent, but most were very enjoyable, although there were a few sessions that the birds did not show.

The best session was had when Paul lent me his 600mm lens, and I was also on a small step to help me get above the reedbed, because I am not exactly the tallest bloke around!! I loved the lens so much I immediately bought one, and although I won't use that lens much in the summer, when the macro comes back out, I am looking forward already to using it next autumn and winter, especially when Lisa and I head up to Scotland.

I took so many photos of the owls, it is difficult to sort out which ones to post, but here follows some of my favourite ones from many visits.

The first 4 images were shot in a short sequence as the owl hunted in front of me.

The Owl cruised along searching.

Suddenly, it detects a Vole and it's breaks on.

The Owl overshot the Vole but quickly turns.

Going in for the kill with talons at the ready.

Shortly after this the Owl flies past watching us, watching him.

And giving us a wave.

On another day I ventured further along to a gate with a clearer view. On this particular day I was totally on my own, so from this viewpoint I hoped to get a paler bird that always stayed at that end of the meadow. The biggest issue at this end was that often the sun was a little in front, so it could cause issues if the bird went to the left. I did however, get a couple of shots that I quite liked, as they were a little different, shooting towards the sun.

Into the light.

On this particular day, I was also lucky to get one of the owls sitting on a post in the meadow, that someone had presumably placed there hoping themselves for such a sighting. Being on my own I risked putting up the small step and climbing up to get over the reedbed again. Fortunately, the owl stayed there giving me a fabulous opportunity, despite me fiddling about with the step and a tripod.

Short-eared Owl hunting from the post.

On another day one of the owls was very much in hunting mode, and several times it detected prey by hovering over the ground and diving down hoping to catch, not always successfully.

Hover mode.

On another day, when there was only 4 of us there including Paul and David, one of the owls landed on the top of one of the bushes near the river bank. Although it was quite some distance away, I decided to walk quickly towards the bush, just hoping that the owl would stay. David followed just behind me. As we got nearer we were both surprised that the owl stayed on top of the bush. We kept moving slowly along the bank, taking photos as we went, hoping to get in a position where there would be no twigs in the way. Eventually we were in the best position, and several more photos were taken. David started to walk back to the others, and I started to follow him, when the owl suddenly dropped down off the bush and landed on the post that I had the one on before. David didn't spot this until he was back with the others, and I obviously couldn't shout after him, so I had the owl back on the post again, all to myself. By this time the light had faded quite a bit, and there was only just enough light left to photograph the owl. It was certainly a magical moment though, being so close to such a beautiful bird.

Short-eared Owl back on the post, after posing on the bush.

There were so many other images taken, but these were probably my favourite ones. Now that the owls have left the area, it's a long wait for next winter to see if some Short-eared Owls settle in an area nearby again.

And it's goodbye from him!!

Elmley Break Part Two. Elmley Owls.

 The main draw for many people to Elmley, especially in the winter, is the fabulous array of owls. Many of the Short-eared Owls roost during the day in a meadow just by the car park. This winter there were estimated to be around 27 of these spectacular owls. As our trip was towards the end of winter, some owls had departed, but it was thought around 16 were still on the reserve. Barn Owls were also very evident, and we saw a pair regularly during the stay, as well as one flying past the shepherd hut early in the morning on both days, while we were having a hot drink whilst laying in bed. With the chance of Long-eared Owl and Little Owl as well, you can see why this reserve is so popular.

One of the beauties of staying overnight here is that one can get up early and see and photograph the Barn Owls before the general public are allowed on site. We were lucky that only on the 2nd morning did we see someone else out early, and he was heading down to where the Bearded Tits are sometimes seen. On the first morning we had the pair of Barn Owls out hunting. To give each other a better chance we each stayed near different owls. I must confess, I chose the right one as I managed a couple of close encounters with mine.

Barn Owl in flight.

After getting a few shots of my Barn Owl hunting over the meadow, I got lucky when the owl landed on a fencepost quite near. Fortunately, there was a bush between us and I used the bush to hide behind as I crept closer. I'm sure the owl realised I was there as it looked in my direction a couple of times, between looking for prey in the meadow.

The Barn Owl posing well.

Soon the owl went back to hunting on the wing. With me being the only person near it, I could keep extremely quiet and stay behind bushes or fenceposts so the owl was not alarmed at all.

I then saw the owl fly to the end of the meadow and settle again on another fencepost. There were even more bushes here to hide behind as I crept closer, and I got much closer without the owl realising I was there. With the mirrorless camera's silent shutter I could fire off photos without the owl hearing anything, and I took several images.

A close encounter.

Suddenly, the Barn Owl became really alert, and it was clear it had detected prey in the grass below where it was watching from. It then dropped down on prey and covered it with its wings, before eating the prey.

Barn Owl with prey.

It was soon back on the wing, having had some breakfast.

It wasn't long before Lisa came and found out how I had got on with my owl. She also had some success, but unfortunately for her, her owl was not quite so accommodating. 

We decided it was time for our breakfast, and as it was such a lovely morning we sat outside admiring the view while we ate it.

After breakfast we walked along to the old schoolhouse where we got lucky with the pair of Little Owls, sitting together at the top of the crumbling building.

The Pair of Little Owls.

It was now coming up to a little after when the general public could come in, so we decided to go for a long walk on the reserve. Before we left though, we saw Simon, the main warden checking the bushes near the car park, and we assumed he was looking for the Long-eared Owl. After talking to him he told us where the owl could sometimes be seen at roost, and if he found the owl during the day he would look out for us when we got back from our walk. We did of course, also have a good look for the elusive bird, but without success.

Later, after our walk we could see several people looking at something in the bushes, and we immediately suspected that the Long-eared Owl had been spotted. The owl was certainly well hidden deep in the bushes, but by moving about, a shot through the bushes was just about possible, although as I only had my 600mm lens, this wasn't really suitable, and the shot below was the best I could get.

Long-eared Owl deep in the bushes.

During our stay, the Short-eared Owls showed much earlier than the local ones in Sussex, but they seemed to leave the main meadow quickly and hunt out in the main reserve. Therefore, we didn't really do well with this species. A very light coloured owl did settle in the top of a bush, which gave us a chance. It is possible that this owl was one of the juvenile owls that were the offspring from one of the two pairs that bred at Elmley in 2024. 

A light coloured Short-eared Owl.

Eventually, and regretfully, it was time for us to leave. It was such an amazing experience staying on the wonderful reserve, and virtually having the place to ourselves once the non residents had to leave. We certainly made the best of the situation, having close views of Barn Owls, Brown Hares and many of the bird species found here. As we loaded up the car and started the long drive along the entrance track, little did we know that there was still the best highlight to come. As I drove very slowly along, looking out for the Hares, Lisa spotted a Short-eared Owl just a little way from the track. It allowed us to get parallel with it, as it sat on top of an anthill. We both fired off many shots, and then, the sun came out. It couldn't get any better!! The light really showed off its incredible yellow eyes. It was clearly hunting by waiting patiently to see if a vole would move nearby. Suddenly it flew about 3 feet closer and dropped on prey. Similar to the Barn Owl earlier it ate the prey while it was on the ground. Soon it took off and circled around us. Wow, what a finale, or that's what we thought!!

Short-eared Owl watching for prey from the anthill.

The successful owl with prey.

We then proceeded further along the entrance track. We nearly got to the exit when Lisa spotted another Short-eared Owl. This time it was her side of the car. We couldn't really make this up. After failing with the Short-eared up until we were leaving, it was almost as if these 2 owls were waving at us and seeing us off in a really good way. 

Once again, many photos were taken of this beautiful bird. By now the sun was getting very low, and as I was photographing over Lisa's shoulder, most of my shots were suffering with a little camera shake, but I did get one shot that was okay. Lisa was able to rest her camera on the window frame of the car, and she did much better.

As we drove away from the owl we both had massive smiles, and we drove to a local pub for dinner feeling very pleased with ourselves.

The final Short-eared Owl of the trip.

It had been an amazing 2 nights and 3 days of wildlife watching, and we can't wait to do it all again in the not too distant future.

Elmley Break Part One.

 I did think I would just do one blog concerning our 3 day break to Elmley, but having looked through the photographs that I wanted to post, I have had to make it a two blog trip, as the wildlife and opportunities were so brilliant.

As I had absolutely no idea what to get Lisa for her birthday, we decided together that an Elmley experience would be a really good idea, just hoping that the weather would treat us well too. As it was, despite it being cool we had very little rain, and sunshine some of the time. In fact, almost perfect weather conditions.

The deluxe shepherd hut that we stayed in was everything we could have hoped for, with stunning views across the marshes. This one was also very private and not overlooked at all, so we could sleep with the curtains open, and with a full moon, the marsh was visible all night. In the morning before getting up we had a Barn Owl fly past each morning, along with a Marsh Harrier and Brown Hares running around.

The Shepherd Hut.

Sunrise on our final morning.

As we arrived and drove down the entrance track we enjoyed the sightings straight away with several birds and Hares. Of course, as we were there for the 3 days, we could drive up and down the track as many times as we wanted, although we also walked an awful lot, and saved some of the track for after all the day visitors had left, this was when the Hares came to life.

Many Redshank were present and showing along the entrance track.

Male Marsh Harrier.

Skylark.

Lisa spotted this Common Snipe on one of the drives.

Curlew.

A pair of Little Grebes were paired up and diving in a pool just by the track. This one had just caught a tiny fish.

This Kestrel pounced on prey while we were watching it, and immediately started to pull the prey apart.

One of the first Chiffchaff in the wooded area.

One of the things we both really enjoy about Elmley, is the large number of Brown Hares. Here they are allowed to live without the terrible persecution that they suffer in too many places these days. It must be a tough life being a Hare, living out in all weathers, and so often being hunted. On one of the drives we even saw a mating pair. Along with most things a Hare does, it was a very quick process!!

Mating Brown Hares.

A grooming Brown Hare.

A close encounter!!

Eyeing up one another.

This Hare was wet, possibly from the dew, or perhaps an early swim.

Part two coming soon concerning the spectacular Owls we saw during our stay.