Tawny

one
with the forest
tawny owl

On the principle that any opportunity to blip an owl should be grasped, even when the quality isn't great, and better photos have been taken during the day, here is an owl blip. I managed to get a little closer than my first owl blip, but not a clear view through the branches.

It looks like this might be an addition to the Blip Big Year list too, which would make my second.

The owl encounter was one of the highlights of my first visit to Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits Nature Reserve, along with a few Kingfisher sightings along the River Wharfe.

I'd hoped to come across some White Letter Hairstreak butterflies, which have a colony here, but I may have been a little late in the season, or perhaps not found the right part of the reserve. It was a good day for Peacocks though, and Speckled Woods, along with a few fading Ringlets. This site is important in Ringlet lore, as for many years it held the only colony in West Yorkshire - you can read more about that and the subsequent recolonisation of the county here.

Apart from one lone fisherman I had the place to myself today. It will bear repeat visits.