I Can Hear Owls

diapason0 · Post by **diapason0** » 2 Oct 2011, 6:30pm

The Beast of Exmoor hangs out around here. I've not seen it, but many people have. As an aside, I used to work at an old Victorian psychaiatric hospital at Barrow Gurney. The woods around the buildings were extensive, and several people reported sightings of the 'Beast of Barrow' ............... until it was positively identified as one of the doctors coming home from a staff night out :oops:

Cunobelin · Post by **Cunobelin** » 2 Oct 2011, 6:36pm

karlt wrote:Llangollen. Ll is indeed a single letter in Welsh, but by convention only the first L is capitalised unless the whole word is.

.. or llike me you can't proof read your own writing!

cycle cat · Post by **cycle cat** » 2 Oct 2011, 8:11pm

The Beast of Bournemouth? Whatever is that?
A large fish or something?

fausto copy · Post by **fausto copy** » 2 Oct 2011, 11:29pm

Mick F wrote::lol:

Not seen bears ................. yet!

How come the beasts are always presumed to be cats?

How do you know they're not bears?

Post by **Vorpal** » 2 Oct 2011, 11:46pm

I can hear tawny owls most nights if go out & listen. And we cycle lots of quiet lanes, so we see other wildlife, including deer, from time to time.

My best-ever encounter was a few years ago, coming home from a late ride... I was startled when an owl appeared in the beam of my light. It was quite close; perhpas ten feet away and looking sort of glowy and silvery, like special effects in a film. I stopped as quickly as I could and just watched in awe while the owl stooped on a mouse and carried it off, making less sound doing so than I made stopping my bike.

It's hard to describe, but the image of the owl in front of me was etched into my memory; a single, distilled moment, full of feathers, silvery in the light.

7_lives_left · Post by **7_lives_left** » 3 Oct 2011, 4:05pm

If I am going on a long journey and I am in a hurry, I take a hammock with me. I keep cycling until the small hours then deploy the hammock in a hedgerow and get a few hours kip. On one occasion I did this and had just settled down when I heard but couldn't see A VERY LOUD OWL. I think the owl was rather too close than I wanted it to be.

NUKe · Post by **NUKe** » 3 Oct 2011, 5:36pm

Mick
A gruffalo ?

Martin

fausto copy · Post by **fausto copy** » 3 Oct 2011, 6:10pm

Just looked out into the back garden and counted 11 flipping magpies... :evil:

The most I've seen out there was 14 a couple of years ago.

I thought their numbers were down and bit this year and our smaller garden birds seemed to have been holding their own lately. Pity the sparrowhawk doesn't seem able to cull the maggies though.

lisap · Post by **lisap** » 3 Oct 2011, 7:36pm

We have a barn owl who sits in a silver birch tree at night 2 doors down and hoots very loudly.

One evening a few years ago a small owl landed on the window sill of the bedroom, it sat there bobbing up and down until the cat saw it and launched herself at the window. We also have a sparrow hawk who uses the garden fence as a resting spot, I got a lovely photo of it last year in the early murk of the dawn.

My latest sighting was cycling home last Wednesday when I spent a few minutes watching 2 red kites circling above the lane I was on.

As for the magpies - they are cruel. They tease the cats by ganging up on them which is quite comical to watch.

Post by **Mick F** » 3 Oct 2011, 9:51pm

fausto copy wrote:Just looked out into the back garden and counted 11 flipping magpies...

One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, and Four for a boy.
Five for silver, Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told,
Eight's a wish and Nine a kiss,
Ten is a bird you must not miss.

I liked Susan Stranks!

But ain't got a clue about eleven magpies.

tykeboy2003 · Post by **tykeboy2003** » 4 Oct 2011, 2:23pm

Whilst cycling down a country lane in Devon I came round a bend and there was a fox heading in the same direction as me along the left-hand side of the road. I got almost within touching distance when he looked round and saw me. With a startled expression he froze for a couple of seconds before disappearing into the bushes.

[XAP]Bob · Post by **[XAP]Bob** » 4 Oct 2011, 4:44pm

Mick F wrote:
fausto copy wrote:Just looked out into the back garden and counted 11 flipping magpies...
One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, and Four for a boy.
Five for silver, Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told,
Eight's a wish and Nine a kiss,
Ten is a bird you must not miss.

I liked Susan Stranks!

But ain't got a clue about eleven magpies.

Two boys and a girl?

Redvee · Post by **Redvee** » 6 Dec 2011, 12:58am

Heard an owl in the trees on the way home on Thursday. It was only a one-sided call, the male calling to a nearby female.

Post by Si » 6 Dec 2011, 9:17am

When I were a lad, the TV picture used to go fuzzy now and then, which meant that someone had to go out and shoo the owls off of the aerial.

Anyway, obligatory owl pic...

bigjim · Post by **bigjim** » 6 Dec 2011, 7:44pm

Couple of years ago I was cycling in Mallorca on one of the straight lonely lanes they have out there when a hawk of some sort rose up out of the field I was passing. It then stayed low and close to me and flew alongside me for about a mile or so just a few feet off my shoulder. Then it just veered away off into the distance. Wierd and totally exhilarating. I'll never forget it.

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