The start of a Long weekend! January 25th 2019

Friday was my first day off from the toil of the year and it wouldn't be wasted. The decision of where to go and what to see was a difficult one since there is a lot about within easy reach at the moment and there are a lot of birds that are needed for the Old Caley 2019 year list. I've never bothered much with lists of any description and certainly not at all with year lists until I tallied up the birds that were seen in 2018. Now I find myself wanting to outdo that total of 241 and am actively seeking out the birds that I need. Mrs Caley and I discussed going to the Forest of Dean to get Hawfinch and Mandarin Duck amongst others and Symond's Yat for Goshawk but felt that we could leave that a bit later in the Spring. A much longer trip out to Suffolk was also on the agenda, we could add lots of birds there but the weather forecast wasn't good on the East coast. Waxwings are always a sought after bird but none were within range and I felt sure that they'd get closer once the following weeks promised cold weather hit. After weighing up all of these possibilities and others we decided to put right an early "dip" this year and revisit Deeping Lakes in Lincolnshire and hopefully add Long-eared Owl to the year list. Almost every day since we'd failed to see any on the 5th, see Owl dip, up to four of these Owls and been seen roosting on the island in the main lake there. The trip would also give us the chance of another crack at the Rough-legged Buzzard, which we'd seen but only at a mile distant.

It was a cold morning when we arrived at the deserted parking area at Deeping Lakes. We'd already had a treat on the way in when we'd watched Goosanders displaying on the river nearby and had added Sparrowhawk to the year list as one attacked a large flock of Linnets that were feeding in stubble. 

Goosanders

It's only a short walk to the "Lake" and the hide that looks out to the Owl island. We saw a small flock of Bullfinches on the way but as always with that species they were skittish and refused to pose for a photo. We opened the slats in the, except for us, deserted hide and peered through at the tree covered island a hundred or so yards away. There, bang in the middle of the island and even visible to the naked eye, was a Long-eared Owl. Once again, simples! I mused on the time we'd spent here three weeks ago trying really hard to find one, and failing, in the dense undergrowth of the island, and realised, not for the first time, that you can only see what is there and not what isn't, instead of thinking at the time that I was useless. But you can bet that next time I can't find a bird that is supposed to be present those same old doubts in my ability as a birder will resurface once again! Anyway we'd found the target bird within seconds and I had a full hand of all five British breeding Owls on the year list before the end of January.

Long-eared Owl

I set the scope up and searched through the trees, brambles and ivy on the island for other roosting Long-eared Owls but it was Mrs Caley who spotted another first, just up to the left of the obvious one when it stretched a wing out. So now we had two and a third followed when I saw the belly of one visible in a particularly dense patch of scrub. Very close to that bird was a fourth but you could barely see anything of that one with just the very top of the head showing through the foliage, full power of the scope was required to see that! At such range my camera and lens is nowhere near powerful enough to capture anything other than record shots even with the added converter.

Owl #1

Owl #2

Owl #3

The Owls are one of those species that once found then it's not worth expending too much time with them since they're mostly sleeping and apart from a stretch or quick preen don't do much at all so we looked around at the other bird life on the lake. There were many Goosanders and Goldeneye and a few were close enough to the hide at times to offer better photographic opportunities. Both species appeared to be displaying in readiness for the breeding season and many were already paired off.

Male Goldeneye

Female Goldeneye

Goldeneye paired up.

Male Goosander

Female Goosander

Outside of the hide we searched for different viewpoints in which to look at the Owls in an effort for clearer views but the Bankside is further away so the Owls are even more distant. We could hear gunfire from fairly close by and a helicopter owned by the electricity company came flying low overhead which enticed ducks and geese to fly into the lake from all over. A kingfisher whirred past but didn't stop.

Female Goldeneye

Greylag Geese

We decided that with other birds to find that we should be moving on so left the Owls to their slumber and returned to the car. As we approached the car park a Peregrine flew fast towards us and then veered behind some trees, I actually ran (!) to gain a clear view of the powerful falcon and took some shots but it had already passed. I regained my breath hoping that the Peregrine would circle back to hunt on the scrapes by the cars but it didn't. 

Peregrine Falcon

A pair of Egyptian Geese fed on the river bank next to the access road, we seem to be seeing them everywhere just lately, and back out on the road I stopped once more to take some frames of the Goosanders on the river which was now ruffled by a stiff breeze.

Egyptian Goose

Male Goosander

When we had visited three weeks ago we had viewed Holme Fen from the roads at the southern end. I'd recently seen some decent photos of the Rough-legged Buzzard taken at a place called Frog Hall Bridge at the Farcet village and northern end so we found the nearest access point to the track that led out to the said bridge and parked up. The muddy track stretched for a mile or so out to the bridge which spanned the river and I thought would give access right up to the edge of the fen.  I set up the scope and found the Buzzard almost immediately but unfortunately it was just as far away as it had been from the roads. All that walking appeared to be in vain! Still we were ever hopeful that the target Bird of Prey would work its way along the river and we'd get the close view that I wanted. In order to improve our chances we started to walk along the river embankment but this area is huge and it became plainly obvious that we'd never close the gap between us and the bird in the remaining time left in the day so we gave up. Maybe next time we'll give it all day and do the full walk. All I had to show for the effort was another lousy set of record shots taken from a mile away! At least the scope views were good.

Rough-legged Buzzard (honestly!)

I noticed a Fox pounce onto some unseen prey in the long grass next to the riverbank, it must have been unsuccessful since it emerged into full view without any prize. The Fox took a while to notice us and when it did it stared back, sizing us up, before returning back to the longer grassland and disappearing. I love chance encounters with wildlife.

Fox

There was still maybe an hour of daylight left so we toured around back to our position of three weeks ago in the hope that the Short-eared Owls that we'd seen on our last visit would be out hunting. It had turned into a pleasant sunlit afternoon so I was hopeful of getting some nice shots. The Owls, if present, had other ideas though and, typically, none showed in the hour that we stayed! What is it with Owls that they only seem to want to come out to play in crap weather? Consolation came in the form of a couple of Corn Buntings, new for the year, and a Red Kite that sailed past very closely.

Corn Bunting

Red Kite

We'd achieved our aim of seeing the Long-eared Owls and added a few more decent birds to the year list which now stands at 91, so drove back home quite happy and made plans for the next day.