Arriving at Warkworth to collect Hugh and Sue, and Lou, it struck me that there was a bit of a chill in the wind…
Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits and Great Crested Grebes radiated elegance, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Teal and Tufted Duck were either dabbling quietly or engaging in half-hearted courtship, Swallows chirped at us from their nests, Grey Herons stalked the shallows, Fulmars arced above the cliff edges, ‘rhythmic’ Reed Warblers and ‘scattergun’ Sedge Warblers delivered their songs from deep cover, with occasional forays to the reed tops, but the star of the evening made it’s entrance towards the conclusion of the act.
Sue spotted it first; distantly, hunched on a fence post, in a breeze that was taking temperatures down to something we’d expect in the late winter. Starlings, Sand Martins and Swallows were swirling around prior to going to roost as the Barn Owl turned its head and lifted into the air. Quartering the reedbeds and rough grassland it focused its attention on the ground below. Graceful, silent and deadly, the ‘White Owl’ is always an attention grabbing bird, and with good reason 🙂