Owl Watch

We sat out on the lawn last night with our eyes trained on the owl hole. However we soon realised that we were too late. The adults are going hunting much earlier as it gets dark earlier. |Tonight we took the owl watch more seriously. John set up his tripod and camera at 9.15pm, although the chicks had been shouting (and believe me they do shout and get louder as they become more frustrated) from 9pm. I took up my position along side with binoculars focused ready to report any activity at the owl's front door. Actually our photographic equipment is not good enough for "night time wildlife action" but we did get this picture.

Previously we have only seen the adults and two chicks flying but tonight we saw four young ones and could still hear at least one more screeching from the nest.

You may need to use your imagination but this is a photo of one of the chicks on the pigeonnier roof. He stayed there for about five minutes and didn't seem bothered by the camera flash.

Whilst we are out during summer evenings we hear a sound like an electrical machine clicking. We have always thought it was a Scops owl, which is about the size of a starling. However further investigation today suggests that it is a "midwife toad". John is totally convinced although I am not sure.We did read that it is often mistaken for a Scops owl but as we are never likely to see either we will never know. If you are interested I urge you to Google 'alytes obstetricans' a fascinating little creature.