We had dinner early as my wife was due to play a tennis match locally and this set me up to have a wander around a local village to see if their little owls were still on site. I parked close to the path and made my way along, talking to a few locals who were out, predominantly walking their dogs. It appeared that no one could say they'd seen the birds in the week since one of the other local birders had posted their continued presence. I reached the tree they live in to find it empty. Undeterred I stood and waited with the last of the light disappearing as the sun fell below the roof line of the village houses.
After about 20 minutes and a few chats with passing locals, I was thrilled to see a single little owl hop into the righthand branches, soon followed by another two behind. After 5 minutes or so one of the birds took to the wing and flew off in the direction of the village and was soon lost from view.
Another 5 minutes past and I could see there were still two little owls in the tree but then one left and I was left with the original owl I’d spotted. The whole time the birds were almost completely in silhouette, but a few features were still visible. As it was almost dark the final bird flew out into the field and then circled across the path and away behind me. Great to see they are still around, and it was good to see them on the move to head out hunting. It is amazing the information contained in the photos – it was really too dark for photos but I could resist.
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