6 July 2023 - Hollingworth Lake, Chat Moss

« Newer   |   Older »

Little Egret, Oystercatchers, Barn Owl, Long-eared Owl, Nightjar

A Little Egret on the reserve this morning was a nice surprise; there haven't been too many so far this year.  Also a group of three Oystercatchers were flying around, eventually landing on the spit by the Pavilion.

In the evening the Lake Birders went to Chat Moss looking for Nightjars.  As we wandered through the tracks, we encountered a couple of moths of interest - first a Yellow-tail and then a Small Fan-footed Wave.  As it began to go dark we saw a Barn Owl briefly, then were told about a Long-eared Owl that was perched on a post along the track we'd walked down.  We wandered back not really expecting to see anything, but it was still there and stayed put while we studied and photographed it.  

After a while we decided to head back into a more open area and suddenly we picked up a Nightjar fluttering right by the path.  We hung around in the area and saw the same, or another Nightjar again closely but briefly on a couple more occasions. We also saw a Barn Owl again. And hardly any mosquitoes!

Little Egret, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 1000

Oystercatchers, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 500 (view full size image)

Yellow-tail Moth, 1/80 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 10000

Small Fan-footed Wave, 1/60 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 6400

Long-eared Owl , 1/80 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 16000

Long-eared Owl , 1/60 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 16000