quiet summer days (1 Viewer)

[StevieEvans]

Thanks

Kevin, Many thanks for info. much appreciated.

i'm new to PC's, so i hadn't seen either of those , 1.5 hours later!, Excellent !!!

Today Been to Kielder Bird of Prey Centre, they have a captive bred juvvy LEO, 6weeks old.
The female was in with 4 other adult birds & nested on the ground. Juv. is being hand reared now.

:t:

Keep the owl info coming.

 

[birdman]

I'm with steviewol... the light nights are great, you get to see owls, and true, it's easy to get a bit sluggish, but so do the birdies, so sometimes they're a bit more reluctant to flee your sights.

It helps, of course, that I'm new at Patch Counting, so this is my first June, but if this is as bad as it gets... well I ain't complaining.

(BTW re un-smilies, I reckon they should be called grumpies)

 

[Karl J]

Certainly Breydon / Berny has been rather birdless when I've been recently, but further inland I think they're about but just quiet - and I been busy looking at other things so the count is low. Not tried going in late evening.

Whatever ... it's another interesting facet of the seasons.

 

[Surreybirder]

I'm with steviewol... the light nights are great, you get to see owls, and true, it's easy to get a bit sluggish, but so do the birdies, so sometimes they're a bit more reluctant to flee your sights.

It helps, of course, that I'm new at Patch Counting, so this is my first June, but if this is as bad as it gets... well I ain't complaining.

(BTW re un-smilies, I reckon they should be called grumpies)

To me, one of the fascinations of patch counting is that you find out how different one year can be from the previous one. I'm just finishing a three-year study of the 'tetrad' I live on (2 x 2 kilometre square). I've been listing the birds seen month by month and the variation from year to year is quite interesting.

When you talk about 'seeing' owls, I see lots of little owls, but not tawnys. Do they come out before dark in the summer?

 

[birdman]

Hi again, Ken,

Up to now I have only seen Little and Long Eared Owls on my patch, but certainly at this time of year the LEOs are hunting before nightfall. (As it happens I've only seen the Little Owls in the evening as well.)

If there are other owls, I've not found them yet, but at this time of year, for the last couple of years (but not yet this year) I have seen Barn Owls hunting over a couple of fields on my way home (late) from work, before nightfall.

 

[StevieEvans]

'Tarny wols'

Best to burn-up your patch, you should be able to find some Dayltime roosts where birds are visible.

If you're having problems locating Tawnys then this is a good time to get them.
Listen for Mobbing.
Micking & Scolding Blackbirds normally give the game away, then the rest of the residents join in, Wrens & Blue Tits jumping around them!.

As for unprovoked activity during the daytime, i find that Tawnies can be out & about at any time.
When they have young out of the nest, the adults/or at least one of them will usually be close by, keeping half an eye open.
(? Why bother hiding your chicks in a cavity, then, leave them to their own devices during the day, as roosting fluff-balls?)

This year we had Tawnies out of the nest before the end of March, in a fragmented small wood, which surrounds our yard/depot.
We can see them most days without having to try, a crow or a mag/jay comes into the Yew & Elderberry under-story and action & reactions are imediate.
Once they move, the Tawnies find it hard to get any peace! Sometimes they seek refuge in a huge Monkey puzzle Tree, or some unusual evergreen Oak trees, & Tall mature Yew trees.

Windy days often see Tawnies active, possibly looking for a more sheltered roost...?

Early this year i accidentally disturbed a pair of Long eared's out of some young Scots pines along the edge of a reclaimed pit heap.
I heard a commotion & followed the noise coming from the Jays & Mag's, about 50m away. Fully expecting to see one of the Leo's being mobbed, i crept closer.....
Only to find a Tawny stranded in a Silver Birch, and surrounded on all sides by the colourfull corvids!! One of the mags even tugged at its tail, while another pecked at it from above!!
All the commotion brought in a Sparrowhawk female, she scattered the Jays, but the Mags didnt go too far.
The Spar sat about 8m away from the Tawny then flew straight at it, only to pull away at the last moment.
It made another similar pass at the owl, but i dont know if it actually made contact with it.
All this time the owl sat close to the trunk, not moving. As the noise lessened & the Mags moved, the Tawny appeared to spring to life, open its eyes wide, flying closer into an ivy covered oak, where it hunched up.
Unfortunately, it was too close, and as i turned to leave, it flew off in the Direction of the Magpies !! Revenge....?

.....couldn't relocate the Leo's that day though......

Sorry,......rambling again......

DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT ALL YOU READ IN BOOKS IS GOSPEL.....

Good Hunting Surreybirder.

Birdman? A Question for You:-
How come you were confident of your Leo ident, when you currently appear to be having problems with mipits & tripits.......?
You Know the worlds largest number.... so surely you can digest & remember the diff's between M.Pipit &Tree Pipit................?
I'm Be-mused..... OR should i just be Amused....?

Stevie

 

[birdman]

Fair question, Stevie,

I've gone for LEO all 3 or the Eared Owls I have seen for three reasons - one per owl.

One, I actually saw perched, prior to hunting, and it's "ears" were distinctly long. It actually hunted the same area at the same time as owl number two - which I don't know if that adds any certainty to them being the same species, but they seemed quite content to "share the air".

The third owl, which I actually saw first, hunting in a different part of my patch, I was able to id as and Eared Owl from its wing markings, and based upon probability regarding distribution - I understand that SEO is a southerly bird - decided it was much more likely to be LEO than SEO.

(And of course, knowing the World's Largest Number means there ain't much room for knowing owt else!)

Do you think my deductions are reasonable?

 

[Surreybirder]

I'm not sure you're right about SEO being a southern bird, Birdman. I've seen them in Scotland, Newcastle and Cheshire, to name but three. I've also seen LEO in Herts and Hants and Suffolk.

 

[birdman]

Sorry, Ken,

I phrased that badly.

According to my book, although...

DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT ALL YOU READ IN BOOKS IS GOSPEL

... SEO has a very scattered distribution, but tends to be more common in "the south", whereas LEO is more widespread and common countrywide.

Are you saying that it is likely my eared owl is SEO?

If so, I'd be very grateful for any pointers to help me determine which it is (or if indeed I have both!).

 

[StevieEvans]

Which one (s) have ya got..?

Hi Birdman,
i didnt mean to be rude with my question, but i'm sure you don't mind straight talkin' folk......
I thought you were a wind-up merchant!

You May well have both species, (Both S.E.Owl & L.E.Owl) i have a couple of sites which hold both types all year.

Stevie :t:

 

[birdman]

I never interpreted your question as rude Stevie - straight talkin' folk are fine by me - and my request for pointers is genuine.

Although I am enthusiastic about my birding, there are certainly many areas where my expertise falls a long way short of the mark! Hence my ongoing pipit problem.

But they're good problems to have, and I'm not afraid of learning - and if I now have an "eared owl problem" then so be it... all the more enjoyment trying to sort it out.

Slightly related to these problems is a thread I started a few months ago on the robustness of identification of birds on people's life lists. (I think it was called "How sure is sure?" or something like that if you want take a look.)

In it I briefly explain how my lifers qualify for my list, and others have responded with their opinions. For the most part, there seems to be a reasonable consensus.

Before this thread, my LEO "passed" all my criteria, although I was open to the possibility of it being an SEO, and in fact there are a small number of species on my life list that are still subject to this kind of scrutiny from me. (My list is also on the forum if you are interested.)

Equally, there are some not on my list, because they didn't pass all the criteria.

Notably, prior to this week, there were no Skuas on my list (in fact, as I write there still aren't as I haven't updated it yet) even though was pretty confident I had seen at least 2 types of Skua on a previous trip to the Scottish North Coast.

Also, there are limited numbers of warblers on my list due to my lack of id skills.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say in a long-winded manner, is that I am happy with my LEOs – if I subsequently ided an owl on my patch indisputably as an SEO, then I could change my list to show LEO instead, unless I acquired indisputable proof of both.

(Crikey, I hope that's not too complicated!!!)

As it happens.. in the case of the owl, I think my view of the "ears" was definitive.

Would you agree?

 

[HokkaidoStu]

Pipits Schmipits

Hi Birdman-don't worry about Pipits....I have problems too ( and there's only really 2 kinds here though one of them is in winter and the other summer which kinda helps ).

Black Necked/ Slavonian Grebes in winter on the rough sea without a scope are even more frustrating..........

 

[StevieEvans]

cool

Birdman,

You dont need to justify yourself to us mate,!
Just Enjoy your birding how you like it !

Its very hard TO describe OR for that matter FiND a description which,
DOES NOT COMPARE one species with the other (leo-seo)

Im getting my nose-bag on now, so i will post a few pointers here, in a while.

PS i will do it so that its NOT comparing one with the other.

Stevie

 

[Edward]

Yeah, too right everyone, the year list really does stagnate mid June to late July.

You what! You're having a larrff mate!

Eight year ticks at the weekend, including three on my Iceland list and two on my life list
Mute Swan
Common Scoter
Surf Scoter
Ruff
Grey Phalarope
Long-tailed Skua
Chiffchaff
House Sparrow

Summer does come later here mind!
E

 

[Surreybirder]

There are actually several good features for separating leo and seo! Have you got the Macmillan guide to bird id? It's a series of short articles on how to tell apart the more difficult species and it's excellent.
I haven't time to go into it right now but features include: eye colour, face pattern, carpal patch colour, amount of barring on the belly, tail barring, etc.

 

[birdman]

I've not got that, Ken, but it looks like it's worth checking out.

Might have to have a look at Amazon, and also check out, see if there's a copy in my local library.

Cheers

:t:

 

[StevieEvans]

Leo basic id pointers.

Hi Birdman,

In UK Leo has Orange eyes.

In flight:-
a long winged owl, which hunts by quartering flight, with flapping & gliding

regularly glides on Level wings.
upperparts are uniformly & finely barred & marked.

Tail is closely barred, appearing all one shade at distance.

initial impression is of a rich buff brown & darkly streaked bird, generally uniform colour

* the only specific plumage area which stands out in flight to me, is the distinct rich-orange colouration on the primaries, which surrounds the dark carpal patch. (sandy, yellow buff in Seo)

Hopefully, if you get a good close view then it'll be easier, esp. if its perched.

Ear-tufts are often held flat to head, when bird relaxed.

Your Perched Bird
If ear tufts were prominant, & about same size as distance between top of head & bottom of eye, then i think you can safely assume your bird was a Leo.

I hope that helps you Birdman, im no expert, im pretty much self taught.
This is what i "go on" when i see an owl, other people may have a different interpretation...

Cheers Ste:t:

 

[Malvolio]

In flight look at the pattern of the tips on the underwings first, almost solidly dark on SEO, more barred on LEO. On the upperwing note the pale trailing edge of SEO, LEO is more uniform.

None of the other features are as easy to see as these.

MV

 

[StevieEvans]

Malvolio,
I shall have to look at Seo's more closely in the future. Good pointers, im sure. I see probably 1 Seo for every 10 Leos.

Birdman
I deliberately tried to describe ident for a Leo, without comparing it to its cousin.

I tried to give a basic feel of seeing a Leo in flight, and consequently what to look for, NOT the Pointers you WON'T SEE if its a Seo.

So, obviously, you can turn this around !

Obviously, its going to depend on a general view & impression, perhaps of a bird seen only briefly, or regularly going out of view.
So, i think your initial overall impression will be important.

There's owls in them there hills......:t:

 

[Surreybirder]

Just to clarify,
The Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification byAlan Harris, Laurel Tucker and Keith Vinicombe (1989) is, in my view, a must-have book. It covers the separation of some of the tricky birds in considerable depth. (Please note it is written for UK birders, there is a sister volume that covers species that are likely to cause confusion in Europe and the Middle East. It is The Macmillan Birder's guide to European and Middle Eastern Birds by Alan Harris, Hadoram Shirihai and David Christie--also excellent, but considerably harder to master due to the larger no. of species, many of which I've not seen. It has almost four pages on how to separate scops owl from sriated scops owl, for example, with seven drawings of the birds and various 'bits' of owls.)
I would thoroughly recommend The Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification to UK birders, even if you have all the latest guides (Handbook of Bird Identification, the Collins field guide etc). For example, The Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification has about 7 pages on the Phylloscopus warblers with excellent paintings. Others it covers are marsh/willow tit; crossbills, various raptors, waders, gulls and terns, skuas, swans, geese, herons, storm petrels--in short, most of the tricky species. (For US subscribers, I'd say it's the UK equiv. of Kaufman's Advanced birding, but the pix are in full colour.)
(Perhaps I've put this in the wrong thread?!)