14th April - One More Time?

Way back in 2012 when I started this blog Helen and I were walking through Old Down Wood, early March to be exact.  We were alerted to the scolding calls of Blackbirds and a Jay, you can read the account from the blog post here.  This was my first encounter with the Tawny Owl we affectionately know a "Morris" named after my later father-in-law who passed away in early 2013, he was not well when I tried to show him the owl later in 2012 and unfortunately the owl was never there, but his memory amongst many has lived on with the owl over the last ten years.

So was he going to be about in 2022 for my eleventh year of watching it in the same tree?.  An earlier visit in the year to the spot reveled signs of an owl, but not the hoped for reunion.  So it was this in mind as I visited once again.  The tree has changed with some of the branches dropped and in places the leaves a little denser.  Scanning up and down the tree at first there was no sign of anything unusual.  A different angle helps sometimes and I moved slightly and in doing so I was able to see a brown shape that could only be a tail.  Moving a little more revealed the whole Owl, it was back and in place for its eleventh year as far as I know, but could even be more.

I didn't hang around and risk disturbing the owl, it was watching me as I tried to negotiate my way out of the bramble.  Great to find the owl once again.  I will visit him some more before the end of the season.

Having parked at the pond I took the opportunity to look for the Firecrest in the trees at the back of the pond.  Once again it showed really well.

Along with most places in Hampshire the spring migration has been held up by cold northerly winds a shift to warm weather over Easter will probably speed things up and hopefully we will see an increase in butterflies and some of the commoner migrants returning.