Friday 2 March 2012

Sewage Farm BARN OWL

After watching the BARN OWL yesterday from Marsworth, I had a rough idea of where it was quartering and likely to be this evening. The Wendover arm of the Grand Union Canal seemed like the best vantage point (confirmed by Roy H., thank you). I walked from Bulbourne and quickly spotted the potential field - a large expanse of 'waste' ground covered in long grasses just before the sewage farm (between the canal and Marsworth). There were a number of breaks in the hedge on the Marsworth side of the Canal which gave good enough views of most of the area. I arrived at 5:30pm and at 5:50pm, to my complete surprise, the Barn Owl came up and over the hedge from the direction of the sewage farm, about 100 metres left of me! It flew up the canal towards me until it was within about 50 metres (or less) at which point it banked to its left and back into the scrubby field, along the line of the canal, in front of me. It then turned and came back along the same direction before I lost it in the gloom. After that, I had 4 more occasions where it flew past and then hunted over the field back towards Marsworth. By 6:10pm, it was really getting too dark and I called it night (Lucy Flower Birding)

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