Hi and welcome to my Blog, my name is Paul Riddle and I live in south Leicestershire, UK. Back in August 2007 my quest began to locate as many local Little Owl territories as possible. The driving force was a reported decline in the uk numbers so I thought I would do my bit and conduct a study in my area. After 7 years and countless hours out in the field I have detected over 200 different sites. With a thirst for a greater understanding of the owls a more comprehensive monitoring and nest box programme then commenced. This also now includes monitoring the local and very sparse population of Barn Owls, please pop back occasionally and catch up with the life and times of my owls and any other wildlife that I come across. I hope you enjoy your visit!!!

Sunday 27 October 2013

An old friend.....

During the last few years I have been very lucky with my quest to find Little Owls, although my desire to find more new sites has now dwindled somewhat. It use to be the case that every spare minute I had would be spent out in the field searching for more and more new sites! Nowadays I am quite content whilst out to just stop off at some of my known sites and reacquaint myself with the resident owls. One such location is my site No 62 not far from the village of Leire, the owls here use to be quite easy to see without the need to even get out of my car. However, during the last year I haven't seen them at all which lead me to believe that they had vacated the site?

Even though I haven't seen them for ages I still pull over for a few minutes when passing by, just in case they were still there? Well it just goes to show that persistence does pay off because on my last stop off I made a sighting of one of the owls. It was only a brief sighting as it stared back at me from one of the favoured perches in its patch, but it was long enough for me to capture an image.


Considering the poor light conditions I am pleased with the outcome of the image, the owl is holding a nice erect pose and the defused and uncluttered background gives a slightly 3D effect. I wouldn't be surprised if this image finds its way into my 2014 owl calendar.

8 comments:

  1. That one is very worthy of your 2014 calendar, Paul. A lovely image of a LO in one of its characteristic poses!

    It's great to have you back, and in action again!

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    1. Cheers mate, its good to be back although it'll be only occasionally for a while.

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  2. I find all owls to be fascinating creatures for sure. I've had a screech owl occasionally shelter on cold morning in the wood duck box in my woods. In winter....:)

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    1. Owls of any species are fascinating creatures to me, thanks for your comment.

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  3. Hi Paul ..
    recognize old friends again .. a very nice encounter ..
    regards Frank

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  4. I love this shot Paul, I think it's the "alert" pose and eye contact

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  5. I agree buddy, the erect pose makes it for me!

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