May 24, 2007
Seek and ye shall find
There have been a flurry of recent reports of breeding Long-eared Owls (Hibou moyen-duc) from the Saclay plateau, all of which are a considerable walk from Orsay (and since the owls typically appear after 9pm, the walk back would be mostly in the dark). Given the glorious weather, I decided to check my local patch, la Troche. The air was full of the sound of singing Skylarks (Alouette des champs), Grasshopper, Melodious and Fan-tailed Warblers (Locustelle tachetee, Hypolais polyglotte, Cisticole des joncs), Grey Partridge (Perdrix grise), Stonechat (Tarier patre), Reed Bunting (Bruant des roseaux) and Meadow Pipit (Pipit farlouse) - magic.
To cap off an already splendid evening, I was amazed when a Long-eared Owl actually appeared over a promising-looking field, at the realtively early time of 8:45pm. I enjoyed fantastic views of this bird over the next 30 mins, hunting and perched. The flight shots were taken without the aid of a scope!
Comments to rjhall_AT_surfbirder.com
Posted by rjhall at May 24, 2007 10:34 PM