Home to Roost
Back on Lincolnshire soil…..
Back home again after a full on week and time to reconnect with normality for a while. I’d missed my home and my home county. So much so that the bags were left in the hallway, changed from suit to jeans, t-shirt and boots and I was straight out of the house. There is only one place for me to ‘reconnect’, it’s only a short drive away and now that the evenings are getting longer it is a perfect time to watch my favourite bird, the barn owl.
Shallow dykes weave across the huge open fields here, as the sun begins to set this is the time to stand at the front of one of them and watch these incredible birds patrol the edge of the banks, swooping from left to right searching for mice and voles. They are quite beautiful to watch and listen to as they shriek in anticipation of the kill…
Low Flying Barn Owl
Nothing else seems to matter in this moment, nothing else makes me switch off in quite the same way and after a couple of weeks away I need my time here. This is a busy time for birds, there are nests to be built and hunting skills to be polished ready for the onset of hungry mouths to feed. My prescence seemed to matter little to this hungry owl, he dipped in and out of the fading sunlight heading towards me before swerving sharply and heading off into the distance….
Lincolnshire Barn Owl
Heading back along the winding farm roads I drove past partridges and pheasants scurrying into the hedgerows to escape the noise of my car, some, however prefer to stand their ground and show off their plumage. It’s a good job I was holding a camera and not a twelve bore otherwise he’d have been ‘curtains’!…
Lincolnshire Pheasant
Miles,
Personally speaking I’m glad your favourite bird is the barn owl and not Pamela Anderson… unlike some people we know
The Shire really has been at it’s best recently, full of spring flowers and sunshine…. I can see why you miss it when you’re away.
My Easter tree is up and dangling from it, an array of chicks and assorted bunnies…. as well as my pink humming bird looking resplendent on top
What will everyone be doing at Easter I wonder? I’ll be eating Simnel cake (wafer thin of course
) and marzipan apostles. After so many weeks of no chocolate I’m hoping to avoid getting back to old habits… strangely enough Ryvita has not become an addiction yet and I fear never will 
Cid
April 5, 2009 @ 11:58 pm
That second picture has to be one of your best ‘feathered’ picture !
Rod
April 6, 2009 @ 7:43 am
Cid,
Spent a very enjoyable day ‘reconnecting’ with my garden too. It is nice to see the first buds of Spring begin to show through. Gives you a sense of optimism despite it all.
Miles
April 6, 2009 @ 8:13 am
Rod,
Thanks, still not there yet. The enjoyment is in the trying and as Chris Yates once wrote; ‘just being there’.
Miles
April 6, 2009 @ 8:15 am
Welcome home, Miles! I miss our place, too, and especially the birds. But we have another seven weeks before we hit home. Maybe a little too long.
April 6, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Karen,
Thanks! Home to washing and ironing
Seven weeks is a long time but your blog has been brilliant as a result.
Love the new stuff.
Miles
April 6, 2009 @ 7:07 pm
Miles,
Your photography is amazing! Was the owl successful? They have such interesting faces, don’t they.
I love coming over here for a visit and finding such a fun mixture of interesting posts. Great writing, good food, fine photography, and interesting guests!
Melissa
Melissa
April 7, 2009 @ 2:11 am
Miles,
Great to see your barn owl again, and I agree with Rod entirely about the photo. (although your robins were very cute indeed)
As for your show-off pheasant there, I get exactly the same feeling with the cocky rabbits around here that carry on grazing away despite you standing just 10m away. I’m jugging one of those suckers, you mark my words.
GDave
April 7, 2009 @ 5:04 am
Melissa,
Thank you. I imagine he was successful, there appearances in front of the lens are, sadly all too fleeting.
How’s that owl of yours doing?
Miles
April 7, 2009 @ 9:43 pm
GDave,
It’s the same at one of the hotels, they just sit there looking at you, unbelievable.
I just look at them and think of a recipe!
Miles
April 7, 2009 @ 9:54 pm