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Post by kentyeti on Jan 16, 2017 13:53:06 GMT
Counted the main roost of Shorties back in early this morning, but after a very good night for hunting and a still morning, they spent a long time flying around the roost, perching etc before going down. Made counting harder as there were thermal images of owls all over the place! The last one down was at 07.20. But it looked to be 15 -16 owls still. Came back via another location as a good friend and neighbour had found one last night. From it's behaviour possibly a recent arrival from off the North Sea. Likely the same one I found this morning and spent three hours close by in my car watching it. Didn't want to move and I suspect it had hunted in the night, but was still recovering from that possible long flight. Took some photos while I enjoyed watching one in daylight for once. One photo below, in fairly gloomy light, but it was daytime! Cheers, Bryan Below. I can look really fierce when I want to!
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Post by Tringa on Jan 16, 2017 17:10:11 GMT
That is great shot especially so given the conditions.
Dave
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Post by accipiter on Jan 16, 2017 17:22:19 GMT
Oh my word it does look cross Bryan; had to pay a visit to the doc today as I seemed to have picked up a chest infection whilst following little owls in inclement weather, (a hazard of the job.
And so here I am in the music room writing an opus inspired by following little owls in inclement weather entitled (physically challenged, or there’s a dewdrop on my shoulder!
Alan, it only hurts when I laugh
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Post by kentyeti on Jan 16, 2017 17:49:27 GMT
Oh my word it does look cross Bryan; had to pay a visit to the doc today as I seemed to have picked up a chest infection whilst following little owls in inclement weather, (a hazard of the job. And so here I am in the music room writing an opus inspired by following little owls in inclement weather entitled (physically challenged, or there’s a dewdrop on my shoulder! Alan, it only hurts when I laugh Sorry to hear you are under the weather Alan. Fingers crossed you improve quickly. Even though I have deliberately lost a lot of weight recently, I still look like Michelin Man when I go out onto those icy Sheppey marshes at just after 05.00 hrs to owl watch. Today I had 7 layers on top, including my old Barbour Arctic Endurance. Two pairs of trousers, a balaclava and another woolly type hat/helmet, and scarf and gloves! Plus two flasks of very hot coffee. So fingers crossed I have some protection from the winter Alan. It was sheer bliss, having been up on the seawall watching the big roost for over 2 hours, to then spend 3 hours in my car watching the Shortie from close by. Cheers, Bryan
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Post by kentyeti on Jan 16, 2017 19:34:03 GMT
A slightly better photo from this morning. Cheers, Bryan
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Post by accipiter on Jan 16, 2017 19:47:10 GMT
Oh my word it does look cross Bryan; had to pay a visit to the doc today as I seemed to have picked up a chest infection whilst following little owls in inclement weather, (a hazard of the job. And so here I am in the music room writing an opus inspired by following little owls in inclement weather entitled (physically challenged, or there’s a dewdrop on my shoulder! Alan, it only hurts when I laugh Sorry to hear you are under the weather Alan. Fingers crossed you improve quickly. Even though I have deliberately lost a lot of weight recently, I still look like Michelin Man when I go out onto those icy Sheppey marshes at just after 05.00 hrs to owl watch. Today I had 7 layers on top, including my old Barbour Arctic Endurance. Two pairs of trousers, a balaclava and another woolly type hat/helmet, and scarf and gloves! Plus two flasks of very hot coffee. So fingers crossed I have some protection from the winter Alan. It was sheer bliss, having been up on the seawall watching the big roost for over 2 hours, to then spend 3 hours in my car watching the Shortie from close by. Cheers, Bryan Same here Bryan, I also wear a thermal vest, long john’s, and thermal balaclava. The problem is my latest venue involves a long walk so by the time I reach my destination the sweat is literally running down my back, in future I plan to carry the extra clothes in a backpack. I also had labyrinthitis over Christmas which literally laid me low for 36 hours (room spinning round) but hope to be fully fit once the antibiotics do their work as far as the chest infection is concerned. Have not done anymore writing as far as my book goes lately somehow there are not enough hours in the day or night. All the best Alan
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Post by rowanberry on Jan 16, 2017 21:44:59 GMT
Brian, what stunning photos you are getting! Are you going to be able to have colour shots in the book? I certainly hope so, you've taken so many nice ones. Alan, I hope you're feeling better soon- chest infections can be difficult to shake off... lots of hot toddies!
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Post by kentyeti on Jan 17, 2017 17:33:11 GMT
Brian, what stunning photos you are getting! Are you going to be able to have colour shots in the book? I certainly hope so, you've taken so many nice ones. Alan, I hope you're feeling better soon- chest infections can be difficult to shake off... lots of hot toddies! Many thanks. Full colour throughout is the plan. And that is being worked on now by a quality designer I have got setting up the style for the book. She has done some really good designs for wildlife books for some of the top UK publishers. She is going to do the first 40 pages including the Description chapter at present, as those pages should not change too much when the book is finally completed in maybe two years time. My plan is to see if I can take that through an offset-litho proofing stage to check how it will all look, especially the photos, when that is produced. Cost of a very small litho run could be an issue, and I shall have to consider the pros and cons of having/not having it done when I reach that stage in the next few weeks. One reason I would like an offset-litho proof is that is how I intend to get the book printed when it is finished. And I want to be sure that the photos, which are being converted to CMYK from RGB, will look good when printed. As well as checking I have made the right choice of paper type. All photos are relevant to the text and they are going into the book next to the text they apply to, and wherever possible they show the same owl "performing" the actual behaviour discussed and exampled in the text. That is a cornerstone of the book, and is done wherever it is possible to do. It's around 250 or more photos. From small photos up to full pages. Along with diagrams, maps, tables and charts. Currently it looks like 304 pages in Crown Quarto size: 189 mm x 246 mm portrait layout. Hardcover with a laminated dust jacket. Cheers, Bryan
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Post by rowanberry on Jan 19, 2017 19:42:48 GMT
It sounds like you've got it well planned out, (and I can imagine the headaches involved in getting photos to go alongside the relevant text... I did some basic graphic design when I was at uni, and I found just planning the type and layout of a simple children's book was a challenge!) Are you going to be self-publishing? The costs aren't cheap, but as more and more people go that route it seems like the prices are going down steadily every year, which is good.
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Post by kentyeti on Jan 30, 2017 11:29:38 GMT
It sounds like you've got it well planned out, (and I can imagine the headaches involved in getting photos to go alongside the relevant text... I did some basic graphic design when I was at uni, and I found just planning the type and layout of a simple children's book was a challenge!) Are you going to be self-publishing? The costs aren't cheap, but as more and more people go that route it seems like the prices are going down steadily every year, which is good. I'm not finally decided on the publishing route yet. Although my plan is to fund it all myself so I keep full control over all aspects of the book and how it is produced. It is possible I can get a publisher as the "front" to handle the final stages including storage and distribution. The likely full cost is very high. Just need to watch that and keep control over it. I also plan to use traditional offset-litho printing, unless I can be assured that by the time I publish digital has overtaken that for quality. But one of my target printers has just invested £1m in the very latest offset printing gear, so maybe that stage is a while off yet! I've got a designer working on the first 40 pages that should not change too much, some valuable lessons learned by me already. And I may have mentioned earlier that I also plan to get a full off-set litho proof done of those first 40 pages quite soon. To see how the finished book will look and to make sure the photos come out ok after CMYK conversion. They do look very good in the print ready pdf drafts I am already seeing for some of the first part. That off-set proof may cost quite a bit though, just for a few copies! Have to see what quotes I get when that stage is reached in the next few weeks. I've got an editor/copy editor/proof reader in mind, another professional with a good track record. Timescale to completion just stays at 2 years! Incredible field observations at present mean a substantial re-write of part of one chapter. Two nocturnally active roosts One of 22 Shorties now, the other of 7 -8. Been seeing thermal images of 29 - 30 different Shorties every day for almost a week now. That won't last, numbers will fall soon. . . . . Cheers, Bryan
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Post by kentyeti on Mar 8, 2017 17:20:14 GMT
The Sheppey count for Short-eared Owls is still very good, and without a doubt the best place to see one at present is Elmley NNR (closed Tuesdays). There are between 5 and 7 there and they are regularly coming out around 15.30 - 16.00 now, and with the weather as it is, and taking the forecast into account, that should hopefully continue. Maybe until they leave which could be anytime from now onwards. The Reserve have quite rightly asked visitors to follow reserve rules and stay in their cars so as not to disturb the roosting owls, which can sometimes be seen in the rough grass by the access track as it nears the car park. And for those who are not Friends of Elmley, please make a contribution in the honesty box at the far end of the car park. All is being spent on improving visitor facilities, for which no external funding is provided. The increase in facilities will soon include a new toilet with disabled access in the main car park. My own observations on the large roost, which is still mostly nocturnal, continues. They are coming back from just after 04.30 now, with the last ones usually back around 05.45. And apart from after bad weather when a few go out early, they are not leaving to start hunting until around 18.15, up to around 18.45. And as I get best information by watching them go out, then go early the next morning to see them return, my time at home in between is getting a bit short! And at least an hour of that time at home is typing up my field notes. My Pulsar thermal imager has certainly been earning its keep. I'm now working on getting the first 40 pages of the book through the whole process that the final book will go through when it is finished. Which means not only do I have a quality designer, I've now also got a copy-editor, and a printer, local to and well know to my designer, who will produce a wet proof/booklet of those 40 pages sometime soon. So whilst the book remains stubbornly two years from final completion, I should soon have a booklet that will show how it is planned to finally look. I say stubbornly two years away, as this winter has given me a vast amount of roosting behavioural information that will take a good time to analyse and write into book form. And those observations (112 visits so far to the roost area since early October), mean I have not been able to follow up on my winter plan of Wales, the Peak District and NE England for further Shortie coverage. But I did get that photo of a Shortie virtually at Land's End, which was on my list. The roost I am watching does not give many good photo opportunities even when some do come out early after bad weather. They tend to head straight off into the distance to their hunting territories. So a fairly basic shot below of one I saw a few days ago. Cheers, Bryan
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Post by kentyeti on Mar 29, 2017 15:15:15 GMT
Struggling to keep up to date with field notes as the roost I have watched in North Kent since early October is still active. But a brief and overdue update. Numbers are still in double figures as they have been since November, after peaking at 24 Short-eared Owls a few week ago before some left; presumably to head back to Scandinavia and/or further East. They have remained mainly nocturnally active, but spells of bad weather at night have pushed some of them out into the afternoon to start hunting. Hence a photo of one below. It's close to 6 months since I started watching that roost and I have a lot of new information on the behaviour of a winter roost. This morning was my 132nd visit to the roost since October. OMG! Sadly this mornings great sight was in the dark, as most have been for the last six months. Me, leaning against a fence staring intently through my thermal imager as the owls returned to roost from 05.40 onwards. With a local cat balanced on my shoulder! LOL! Elsewhere I am picking up a steady flow of reports of Shorties, but many will be on the verge of leaving for their breeding grounds. Cheers, Bryan
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Post by rowanberry on Mar 29, 2017 20:12:24 GMT
Another lovely photo, Brian. thanks for keeping us posted on how it's going!
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Post by Tringa on Mar 31, 2017 19:15:44 GMT
Good to hear your book is going well, Bryan, though it seems quite a task and I now have a great image of you and the cat. As always some excellent shots of the owls. I have only seen two SEOs (both within 2 days on South Ronaldsay) - they are impressive birds. All the best for the publication. Dave
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 1, 2017 17:46:22 GMT
Thanks for the nice comments guys and girls. The cat on my shoulder well before dawn is now the norm. I'm training it to sit still up there, so it doesn't make me jog the thermal imager! LOL. The main roost of Shorties is on the verge of going below double figures for the first time since around mid November. Might have seen a Shortie a few minutes before it headed off over the North Sea a couple of days ago. Unusually for that roost it was out and active just before 09.00. It perched very close to the beach, (photo below), and after a few minutes flew over me to the beach. I raced round and checked the whole area, but no sign of it. And the roost I had counted a few hours earlier, did reduce by a few that day when I counted it again in the evening. A nice SSW breeze blowing too. . . . Goes down as a possible, but no more than that. To be 100% certain I have to see it fly off over the sea until it has gone. And, . . . , had a report today of the first one seen back up in one of the northern breeding areas. Cheers, Bryan
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