Owl Prowl (Tuesday 17th February 2015)

This was the luxury coach provided for the free Owl Prowl which took us from Temple Farm in Rockley, near Marlborough, across that farm estate and also Barbury Castle farm estate, in search of owls. The prowl was led by two farmers who manage the two estates and the theme of the tour was to assure us that some farmers do care about the environment and have engineered the land to provide varied habitats and conservation for all sorts of wildlife.

They both certainly knew their birds and gave tips to help identify different birds of prey species from a distance, and one had even brought a telescope for anyone who wished to look through. We had magnificent views of red kites and buzzards, but when we reached the Ridgeway path at Barbury Castle, where short-eared owls are a regular attraction, none were to be seen.

We only got out of the trailer once, when I took this blip, and walked to some cover 50 yards or so away, where we were fortunate to encounter four short-eared owls. They flew from the cover to an adjacent ploughed field, affording good views, but too far for my lens to get a shot of up-loadable quality. We also stopped in front of a large open barn and were delighted to see two barn owls fly out.

It was a beautiful sunny crisp afternoon, unlike Monday and Wednesday which were dull and wet, so it could hardly have gone better. I tried to get some landscapes from the trailer, but the farm tracks were so bumpy that it was hard enough to compose a shot, let alone get a blur-free image. My best attempts are below. It was so bumpy my watch-strap came unbuckled and fell off somewhere along the way! I have had to somewhat guess at the location as I couldn't get a GPS signal.

I went in to Marlborough afterwards to warm up over a coffee and scone.

L.
25.2.2015 (1437 hr)

Blip #1506 (#1756 including archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #003
Day #1791
LOTD #741 (#861 including archived blips)

Alternatives:
Landscape #1
Landscape #2
Landscape #3

Lens: Pentax 55-300 mm x1.4 converter (Blip), Pentax 17-70 mm (Landscapes)

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