Twoo, What A Surprise!

 

Saturday was a surprising day, more so than expected [though you could very well argue that an expected surprise isn't...]. Having many important Things to do - indeed said Things are ongoing as I type right now in the most un-bloggily middle of the day! - I haven't even been to the Nose [tut] so have no right to expect to get anything funky.

Nevertheless, ears at least have been kept open and when the gull alarm went off big style Saturday evening - at 8 or so, no less - I was quick to try to see what the fuss was. Cue: gulls alarming and converging on Black Head [that bit on the left in the sunrise photos I post now and again]. Building kettle over the far side, and some Crows going along, too. Hmm, now that ain't gonna be no Buzzard!*

Careful scanning eventually acquired the victim, as something Not Gull*** rose up above the trees, circled a bit and dropped off northish.. Oh, that's an Osprey!!!

:D

It stayed mostly below the horizon, but could be tracked as it headed up the coast by the circling entourage. Not a hope of a photo, though [I've yet to get one behaving well enough; ok, apart from the eye level flypast one, but that pinned me to the spot in WOOOOOAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!, so really also counts as un-photographable!].

 

Not content with that, later on as I dragged myself off to bed, I had turned on my balcony light to scatter the soaked worms [as the Blackbirds have been FF for three weeeks now, and others are right behind them] in amongst the planters, when, with hand reaching for the handle, I realised there was something there and froze...

 

What? 

 

THIS!

 

T-woo-hoo!

Tawny Owl!!!!

 

It looked at me, I looked at it. I backed off soooo slowly... Got camera, came back, still so slow... and it just sat there, looking all around ["You'll be lucky to find anything bigger than a slug up here, mate"].

 

Totally ignored me.

 

 

That's my balcony light reflected there

 

"Heeeeere mousey-mousey..."

Sizing up the birdbucket?

 

There are loads of Tawnys here, right noisy buggers they are, too. However, aside from the odd incautious juvie, or getting flushed by fireworks, you just don't see them. 

I've only caught one perched on my balcony once before and it was gone the second I moved [because pics or it didn't happen...], so this coolest of customers - even the Robin isn't that unafraid! - was such a treat.

Woo.

[No apologies]

:D

Be Seeing You...

 

 

[[* Yes, I know; despite my mantra that 'It's always a Buzzard!', sometimes it isn't. But those are so few and far between - this is now 4 Ospreys from Home in 8 years, with Buzzards more than daily** - that the point is fair, I think. 

More relevant to the post, gulls behave one way towards Buzzards when nesting; alarm and see it off but only to a few hundred metres at most. Having everything within a kilometre or more converge is very unusual.]]

[[** As they say; 'Do the maths'... ]]

[[*** By silhouette and especially flight action. Ospreys, it should be noted, can appear rather like Herring and especially GBB in size and shape, but the similarity at range and nasty angle of view is dispelled the second they flap. ]]