The Owls that hide... very, very well

A quick trip to Marton mere LNR near Blackpool with my mum to see what was about on this cold, windy and overall miserable day. Highlights of the short walk were seeing the two long staying Long-eared owls (my 5th year seeing them there), hearing a Cetti's warbler call in the reeds, lots of wildfowl on the water (Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, etc) and a few spring flowers coming into bloom.

The Long-eared owls winter at the reserve and only come out at night to feed, during the day they roost in Apple trees and others similar. They are notoriously hard to find and even when you do find them even then they are hard to view (as my mum will tell you). They get themselves right into the branchy, stunted apple trees and their body is so well camouflaged they are almost impossible to see, but when you do see them they are very impressive. Their fluffy bodies and tufts of ears (hence 'Long-eared owl') give them away nicely. We saw two of the three that are present currently. A couple pictures below show their whereabouts (to show just how hard to see they are) and another picture cropped and zoomed in to show it (it's hard to see i don't blame you if you can't see it).

Marton mere LNR

Miniature Daffodils

Long-eared owl site

Long-eared owl

The male and female Siskins were also back on my garden feeders this morning, which certainly made a grey day that much brighter. The male (bottom) is so bright yellow, they're so nice to look at.

Male and Female Siskins