Out in the Open

No words can come close to how thrilled I was this evening to get this shot of a barn owl hunting in the twilight! Suddenly, silently ..........swooping.......... rising and falling, elegant.......almost leisurely, flying over the stubble he came; intent on hunting his prey. I just could not believe it, having stalked him for so long. It was a wondrous sight and to feel his freedom just for the brief moments I had is still making me smile.

Night after night I have kept going back just to catch a glimpse of what was proving an elusive bird. Wow it was so worth it!! Parked in my usual spot off road scanning the surrounding fields in the fast fading light I really didn't hold out much hope of seeing it. Difficult to spot too, against the snow scattered ground and slightly misty distance . Catching a glimpse of something way away alerted me to the possibility it was in the vicinity, so I drove around the lanes scanning with the binoculars to no avail. Pushed the car onto the verge, cut the engine and switched off the lights. Getting out there was not a sound; everything was so still and it was quite eerie in the inky black - just waiting. -1.5C and my fingers were numb but it was really beautiful with all the trees and bushes covered in a coating of crackly, white frost. Stunning, he arrived - difficult to shoot in the near dark but never-the-less... flying for me! Please view in LARGE!


I do have to thank Mr Leslie Kent the head of Biology at Dean Close School for very kindly drawing me a small map of where to see wild barn owls, after introducing himself on my waxwing sortie in Cheltenham before Christmas. Known as the 'Moth Man' of Cheltenham he has 8647 records of Macro-moths in 2012!

A couple more barn owl shots, a pheasant and fieldfare