biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
On our back door
Your day's wildlife
- Thread starter Flick of the Elbow
- Start date
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- Tags
- wildlife
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sevenfourate
Devotee of OCD
- Location
- Lowestoft, Suffolk
Did well to capture that still…….
Windle
Über Member
- Location
- Burnthouses
The wife and I had a walk round Low Barns nature reserve near Witton-le-Wear yesterday evening (6 - 8pm), the first time we've been there for years, (although we used to go more frequently). It's changed a bit since we were last there, with a new bird hide and a lot more vegetation / tree growth. Unfortunately the Himalayan Balsam appears to be taking over, there are signs all round the path route asking visitors to pull it out where (safely) possible, but it looks like a losing battle. I don't think the birds cared though, there were many species there, including a Little Egret and numerous Cormorants roosting in the trees on one of the mid lake islands. The concrete weir on the river Wear has partially collapsed at some point, years ago you could almost walk right across it when the river was low. The only place I've ever seen a Kingfisher.
The highlight was at the last (West) hide, as dusk was coming in. We sat looking out over the small lake watching the roosting ducks when a Barn Owl appeared in the distance, flying back & forth over the marshy ground to the west. Another appeared, then a third, frequently coming close to the hide as they hunted, often dropping down into the long grass. Then one of them silently flew right past, probably ten feet from the open window, then again. Next time it alighted on a post just to the right of the hide. (It was dusk so I couldn't possibly have got a photo), but it sat there watching us for half a minute, before taking of and coming right up to the front of the hide, briefly hovering. I thought it was going to fly in! It did this a couple of times, (obviously weighing up the threat) before flying off across the wetlands again. Absolutely magical.
The highlight was at the last (West) hide, as dusk was coming in. We sat looking out over the small lake watching the roosting ducks when a Barn Owl appeared in the distance, flying back & forth over the marshy ground to the west. Another appeared, then a third, frequently coming close to the hide as they hunted, often dropping down into the long grass. Then one of them silently flew right past, probably ten feet from the open window, then again. Next time it alighted on a post just to the right of the hide. (It was dusk so I couldn't possibly have got a photo), but it sat there watching us for half a minute, before taking of and coming right up to the front of the hide, briefly hovering. I thought it was going to fly in! It did this a couple of times, (obviously weighing up the threat) before flying off across the wetlands again. Absolutely magical.
