It just so happened that I awoke at 05:00 and remembered I had bought a thermal imager. Time to creep out of the house and try the patch for owls.
Without the imager I was blind, but with it I could immediately see Rabbits, Hares and an Owl. It was sitting on a post, but beyond that I couldn't be certain of the species. Then it took off and flew away. My strong hunch that it was a Barn Owl was confirmed when it gave the classic rasping call.
I could also hear Tawny Owls in the woods some way off, but identifying the white blobs in the fields was rather tricky. Fortunately most of them were calling and were Red-legged Partridges, the smaller dots eventually revealing themselves as Skylarks.
Once it got light, I dashed home for breakfast.
Part two of the morning involved a trip to the sewage works at Spernal. Neither of my two main targets, Mandarin and Cetti's Warbler, was present (or in the latter case maybe just not singing), but there was some compensation. A Goosander flew north, and after hearing at least one Chiffchaff singing from within the compound of the works, I located two more along the footpath on the way back.
Sadly, but unsurprisingly, no wing-bars were seen apart from on the several Goldcrests which were also feasting on the numerous gnats. One day maybe.
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