Encounter with an Owl and a few other birds

Owl in a beech tree (library picture)

On the afternoon after Milo's party I was strolling around in the birch at the top (North) end of the wood when I saw a dark shape three quarters of the way up a tall beech tree. Creeping closer, the shape swiveled its head and resolved itself into a tawny owl. We hear them hooting a lot but clear sightings are much rarer. He looked at me with his large black eyes and I stared back. We stared at each other for a full two minutes before he swooped off on a hunting expedition. Presumably he was starting out early because the night before had been too wet for hunting. Either that or his prey had been put off by the techno coming from the yurt. Naturally I did not have a camera, but the above library picture gives something of the feel of the encounter.

It's not easy, this wild-life photography. Only a few birds move slowly enough to have their picture taken. Sue took this one of a pheasant strolling nonchalantly through the wood.

A fisherman told us he's been trying for ages to get a good picture of a kingfisher zipping by on its regular pond side beat. Although it passes every hour at the same height it's always just out of shot.

Also seen and heard:  A cuckoo was heard for the first time today, calling from just across the Hawkins Pond . It's rather late this year, as it is usually heard in April. Two moorhens were seen with their young broods on the pond, and two Greater spotted woodpeckers in the Scots Pine.