Monday 12 January 2015

Our First Barn Owl of 2015


What a windy weekend!

I was given a copy of Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet by Mark Cocker for my recent birthday. I grew up only a few miles from the Yare-side village of Claxton, so was particularly keen to read the volume. Mark Cocker writes compellingly about his Norfolk owl encounters in the book, and it was these accounts that made me feel the urge to seek an owl encounter of my own.

We headed for the Suffolk coast, watching for birds of prey on a small road that runs along the River Deben, keeping a weather eye on the state of the wind and high tide.

We pulled in at a favourite lay-by and looked around. Intitially the surrounding area seemed devoid of avian wildlife, but all of a sudden a Kestrel swept into view, hovering near the tree-line on our left. It did not hang about, but David was quick to spot a Little Egret in a dyke on the opposite side of the road.

We had watched Barn Owls, these magnificent giants, from this spot in the past. Astonishingly we did not have to wait long before a graceful, if ghostly, form spread out before us, quartering the fields. It circled round for a short while before taking roost in the dense bare branches of a tree. The photos below were nearly all taken behind the glass of the car windscreen and the conditions for photography were far from good. But the joy was in the seeing and the watching, and the record shots below testify to the excitement of what could otherwise have been a dull January afternoon. 










 We finally reached the waterfront, where we looked out on Felixstowe Ferry and its martello towers ...



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6 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Congrats on your Barn owl sighting. They are beautiful birds.. Have a great day!

Crafty Green Poet said...

How amazing! I've never seen a barn owl.....

eileeninmd said...

Carolyn, thank you for linking up and sharing your Barn Owl post.. Have a great day..You may want to link up this same post for this coming Saturday, more bloggers may be able to see your Barn owl post. It is great.

Jennifer Tetlow said...

What wonderful images of the Barn Owl - I've just read Jim Crumley's little book - Barn Owl, Encounters in the Wild - made me cry at times for the beauty. I'm all Barn Owl at the moment as I have one roosting in my shed, never seen it out in the day though - I wonder if I could use some of your photos for drawing and helping me sculpt one?

Jennifer Tetlow said...

What wonderful images of the Barn Owl - I've just read Jim Crumley's little book - Barn Owl, Encounters in the Wild - made me cry at times for the beauty. I'm all Barn Owl at the moment as I have one roosting in my shed, never seen it out in the day though - I wonder if I could use some of your photos for drawing and helping me sculpt one?

Amanda Peters said...

How lovely to see a Barn Owl, we had one in the garden last year late at night.But would love to see one during the day to get some photos.
Amanda xx