There have not been many years when I have had the pleasure of filming three different pairs of Long Eared Owls. While the Spring weather, in general, has been awful one of those pairs did manage to rear five young with their success more dependant on the availability of voles rather than the weather.
Now is the time during your walks in the Pennine forests to listen out for a sound that you will only ever hear at this time of year. It is the hunger calls of recently fledged Long Eared Owls and resembles that of a creaking gate. I have spent most of early summer filming in these forests , so this week we will concentrate on the young owls and next week the adults.
I had already checked out this superb Kestrel nest-site earlier in Spring and as no Kestrels were seen I presumed that it was not being used this year. It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise to see five young ready to fledge when I passed by the other day. Unfortunately, when I returned to film the day after two of the young had already flown and only one feed by the male occurred before the other three went – for once a good result story.
It is a sad reflection on our recent visit to Islay when the best weather we had was on the sail back to the mainland! It was sublime – but what was on show was even better – thousands of Manx Shearwaters and Gannets,
2 Minke Whales, 2 Great Northern Divers, 1 Black Throated Diver and even an Otter showed for us! Some of Islay’s other wildlife is in this weeks gallery.