Whinchat - last of our breeding migrants arrives

 Having seen my first Nightjars a couple of days ago a Whinchat this afternoon on Beeley Moor completes the arrivals of our breeding migrants, a superb male I'm hoping it will stay to breed. As the Whinchat is just arriving the first young Stonechats have fledged this week.

Whinchat - male

Had lovely views of a singing male Pied Flycatcher a few days ago. Usually most of the Pied Flycatchers I see are on the west side of the Derwent River but this year I have encountered 7 singing males on the east side of the although two birds were in Alders on the river bank so could have been either side, hopefully they will also stay to breed.

Pied Flycatcher - male

No signs of any Short-eared Owls this month but a Long-eared hunting over a clear fell area at dusk is a positive sign and a pair of Little Owls close to Bakewell are always nice to see.

Little Owl - pair

Long-eared Owl in winter

For many years I thought the Long-eared Owl was just a summer visitor to the Beeley Moor area. This was based on the simple fact that I had never seen or heard one in the winter months. When I first moved here, twenty years ago I spent many winter nights cycling round the moor listening for Long-eared Owls but with no success.

I have a pair of Tawny Owls which nest in the wood close to my house and I decided to monitor how frequently I heard them calling. I found that on some nights they would be very vocal, although this may only last for 5 minutes at the most, but on most evenings in the winter time they were silent. The time of vocal activity was also very variable and whilst I heard them most frequently before midnight There was a significant bias because this was the time I was awake and by listening for them at times when I awoke in the night I found that their often brief periods of vocal activity were at 2am to 3am.

Assuming that Long-eared Owls have similarly limited times of vocal activity it would need a good deal of luck for me to be present when they were calling or I would have to spend many nights on the moors to have a chance of hearing them!

In the end I decided to leave a portable recorder running in areas that I thought might be suitable and whilst I still have a low success rate I have had some success!

This is the typical deep hooting song of a male Long-eared Owl recorded in December;

I think this sequence is a territorial dispute, probably involving two females. It starts with a couple of distant hoots from a Tawny Owl followed by the sound of wing clapping there is then an interchange of calls between two birds.

A chance Long-eared Owl

 Following my last post I did hear Common Quail calling at Elton Common on 26th May, so that's all our potential breeding birds back.

In early June I was lucky to see an adult Long-eared Owl, this bird had two fledged youngsters. The Long-eared Owl is one of the hardest birds to find locally as they are almost entirely nocturnal. The only time they are likely to be seen before dusk is when they are feeding young.

Long-eared Owl

I'm still not sure whether they are resident on the moors but it seems likely that they remain in some years as a bird was photographed on Beeley Triangle in November a few years ago. It probably depends on how severe the winter is.

The breeding season is now well underway with parties of juvenile Stonechat and Meadow Pipits on the moors and I've seen both Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher feeding young today.

Wood Warbler

It looks like the Mute Swans have had a better year with 6 cygnets at Caudwells Mill and 4 in Bakewell.

Mute Swan

The Cuckoo have been very active on the moor and I had an interesting encounter a few days ago. Both the male and female were using the fence posts, the male to hunt for caterpillars and the female to locate Meadow Pipit nests. The male caught a large caterpillar, either a Fox or Northern Eggar I think, then the female took the caterpillar from the male although it took her three attempts to grab it.

Common Cuckoo - male and female

I received some exciting news a few days ago of a female Hawfinch feeding a youngster in the Darley Dale area last Saturday (11th). Although there have been occasional sightings in the breeding season this is the first confirmed breeding record for many years.

Long-eared Owl update

The breeding success of Long-eared Owls has been much lower than last year. I think this is down to the lower numbers of voles available. I watched one adult hunting for 1.5 hours during which time it brought in two chicks, which were probably Pheasant, I haven't seen them catch young birds as a prey item previously. Locally at least they appear to take small mammals almost exclusively, at least in the twilight hours when they can be watched.
By comparison last year I watched one owl catch 8 voles in 45 mins and another take 5 voles in 15 minutes. I think last year was exceptional for vole numbers and that this was mirrored in other areas of the country.
This photo is of an adult taken at the start of the month carrying a vole, taken at around 9pm just as the sun was setting which highlighted the bird and its pale wing edges.

Long-eared Owl with vole

Long-eared Owl - Beeley Moor

I had brief views of a Long-eared Owl in flight over the moor this evening. This is my first sighting since last summer and it is testament to their secretive nature that they can remain hidden for so much of the year. 
I saw it land in the base of an old birch, it took me 10 minutes to locate where it was sat and another hour to position myself, without disturbing the owl,  so that I had a clear view with no branches obscuring it - the light was poor under the tree but well worth the effort to get a photo of this iconic hunter of the moorland edge.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owls almost fully grown

It looked like today was going to be a wash-out with heavy rain from 8:30 onwards but it brightened up mid-afternoon so I decided to check on the progress of the Long-eared Owl chicks. Luckily all three were together and they are looking much more adult like, although there is clearly an age difference between all three. They are just starting to grow the 'ears' and the down on the chest is starting to feather. 
Fantastic birds and the encounter made up for the wet start.

Long-eared Owl - juveniles

Long-eared Owl - juveniles

It's not just owls that need excellent eyesight. Locating this brood of juvenile Long-eared Owl needs excellent eyesight on behalf of the observers as well. Although getting towards full size and able to fly these juvenile Long-eared Owls are very difficult to locate as they stand motionless in the tops of trees bordering the moor. 
Despite the poor weather recently the owls appear to be doing well at the moment.

Long-eared Owl - juveniles

Long-eared Owl again

Couldn't resist adding another shot of the Long-eared Owl seen earlier this week.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl - Beeley Moor

A lucky encounter with a Long-eared Owl this evening hunting the field bordering the moor. This is the best time of the year to see the Long-eared which is entirely nocturnal for most of the year but will hunt at dusk in the late Spring when they have young to feed.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl - Matlock Forest

A Long-eared Owl was a lucky find in the early hours this morning and my first of the year. Hopefully seeing the owls in almost day light is a sign that they are working harder to find food for their young.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl

Ever elusive, Ken Smith came across this bird which spent most of yesterday drying out and preening. It must be quite wet work hunting on the moors at present. This shot was hand held with the 300 + 2x at quite a distance.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl - Beeley Moor

The Long-eared Owl is without doubt one of the most elusive of our resident birds, there could be a dozen pairs in the wooded moorland fringes bordering Beeley and East Moor but they are almost entirely nocturnal other than for a period in the summer when they are feeding young. This individual is the first I have seen since late last summer.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl juvs Beeley Moor

Two of the three long-eared Owls photographed as chicks on 16th July, now fully grown and free flying.

Long-eared Owl hunting

Watched the adult Long-eared Owl hunting this evening, it took 4 voles/field mice in the space of 30 minutes so the youngsters are not going to starve.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl chicks

Located 3 downy chicks this evening fresh out of the nest.

Long-eared Owl chicks

Long-eared Owl - Beeley Moor

Taken at dusk this evening, Long-eared Owls tend to fly later in the evening than Short-eared and are thus harder to photograph.

Long-eared Owl

More Long-eared Owl

A couple of shots of yesterday's Long-eared Owl from Ken Smith for comparison with mine! I think Ken must have been a little closer or at a better angle - nice shots!

Long-eared Owl again on Beeley

Another individual Long-eared Owl hunting on Beeley this morning.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl - Beeley Moor

Watched this Long-eared Owl hunting on Beeley Moor for half an hour this evening, before it kindly sat on this post, but the light had unfortunately deteriorated by then.

Long-eared Owl