Tuesday and Wednesday February 3 and 4 - Studley and Spernal Park

 On Tuesday morning I was awake early and in possession of Tony's Thermal Imager. The plan was to go to an area near the river Arrow at Studley where I understood a pair of Little Owls was in residence.

Unfortunately the weather was against me. A bitingly cold easterly and steady drizzle which rarely abated. Nevertheless I followed the directions and located what I thought was probably the right tree. In the twilight the kit confirmed an encouraging point of light exactly where you might expect a Little Owl to be sitting.

As it slowly got a bit lighter, through my scope, I could make out what did indeed appear to be a Little Owl sitting at the entrance to a hole. Then as I switched back to the Thermal Imager a second bird, most definitely a Little Owl flew into the tree and they both disappeared into the hole.

By the time it was light enough to see properly the show was over. You'd never know they were there. So no photo I'm afraid.

Little Owls used to be relatively common around here and many of the sites I have Birdtrack records for, list the species among my previous visits. But in the last twenty years they've become a lot harder to find and I currently only know of four places within 10 kms of our house where they now occur. They've certainly gone from two pairs to zero at Morton Bagot.

This morning I was keen to try the kit out in woodland, so went to Morgrove Coppice intending to walk around Spernal Park as I hadn't got any winter records for that wood. Within five minutes of my arrival the battery in the thermal imager died. Drat.

Nevertheless I struggled up the steep muddy hill to the top of the wood, and within minutes of reaching the summit, gasping for breath, a familiar call improved my mood considerably. A Common Crossbill flew right over my head and away towards Morgrove Coppice. My second year-tick in two days.

It doesn't look it, but trust me, the path through the trees was very steep

I commenced a circuit and noted several Marsh Tits, five Ravens, and a few more Crossbills. Unfortunately none of the good stuff was photographable, although I did briefly see one of the Crossbills perched in a tree.

Nuthatch searching the leaf-litter for food

Assessing how many Crossbills I'd seen was difficult, but I decided on a minimum of five. I therefore felt vindicated when, back at my car in Morgrove Coppice carpark, I heard more calls and counted five Crossbills flying from Spernal and away in the direction of Coughton Park.

It looks like more wet weather is on the cards, so I doubt I'll poke my head out of doors again until Sunday.