The Great Outdoors

WILDLIFE IN THE UK - LITTLE OWLS GREG COYNE, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER

Little owls are very common all over England but rarely seen in Scotland and Wales. They are a small owl and usually eat small mammals and birds, beetles and worms. Before I moved to Warwickshire earlier this year, I had a favourite spot about 20 minutes out of Bedford where I could watch and photograph little owls. The beauty of these owls is that they can often be seen during daylight hours sitting on a fence post, telegraph pole or branch of a tree - but not many people look upwards when they are out in the countryside.

Recently I heard about a couple of little owls that could be viewed from a local hide so I decided to spend a day there with my camera. During lockdown my camera had been gathering dust so I thought it would be nice to get out and about again. the oak tree they had made their home. They had taken over a hole halfway up the trunk and I had been told they were feeding young inside. With offerings of food (mealworms and garden worms) strategically placed on the perches in front of the hide, I was expecting quite a few visits. The forecast was for changeable weather all day. Normally owls stay out of heavy rain but when they have young who are relying on being fed those rules tend to go out of the window. In fact, I had only been in the hide for fifteen minutes, and was still setting up my camera, when a small face peered out of the tree trunk hole. Bingo!

Over the next three hours I had so many visits to the perches that I lost count. The owl would pop down to the perch, pose for my pictures and then grab some food and head back to the young at the nest. As with much of wildlife that I study, there was a lull in the action around

the middle of the day. But as it went quiet in the tree, it certainly wasn’t quiet outside as a large storm rolled in. It became dark with torrential rain and large hailstones and, as the rain continued into the afternoon, I was unsure whether the little owl parents would venture out again. But they did and the visits were just as frenetic as the morning session. In fact, both parents were ferrying food back to the youngsters. The owls in the rain, looking a bit bedraggled, made great photography and, by slowing down the speed of the camera, I captured some nice rain trail photographs.

I intend to go back to see the little owl family as soon as the youngsters start to venture from the hole and start branching - exercising their wings, hopping around on the branches around the hole entrance. I hope you enjoy the photographs in this article. The little owl is a bird with attitude, strutting around and always looking grumpy, but they are really superb parents to their young.

You can see more images on my Facebook Page which is Greg Coyne Photography so please check out my page, like it, and then keep up to date with my travels on a regular basis.

I wasn’t disappointed by these little owls. The hide was superbly placed, a short distance from the oak tree they had made their home.

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