Friday 12 November 2010

BO.BO.BO / Squacco Lift Off

In the slumber between waking and heading to work for an overtime nightshift I've managed to fit in a dusk visit to West Hartford today.

It was moderately successful, with the trip highlight being immediately apparent; three barn owl, all conveniently positioned along one fence line as I arrived (my highest count of this species to date). As with previous encounters, the camera-less visits seem to be more proficient with barn owl, as one bird hunting owl hovered not more than 15 feet away...

Other than the barn owl there was no sign of any "shorties", but a single buzzard drifted along the River Blyth and birds heading to roost included jackdaw, wood pigeon, goldcrest, blackbird and redwing.

***

Prior to the dusk visit to West Hartford I spent a short while working on another squacco heron image. The picture took a bit of effort to reduce burn out of the whites in the wings and the head was over-exposed too. However, it will suffice for the moment, and at least it illustrates the dramatic appearance shifting character of this small heron - while on the ground it looks like a small buffy heron... in flight egret-like!

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