Last week I noticed a Barn Owl hunting up and down my neighbours garden. It has been a year or so since we’ve had a Barn owl so close to the house, although the Tawny owls often sit in the tree or on the telegraph pole in the garden.
I put a few trail cameras around the edge of my garden hoping that one of the cameras would catch the owl flying past. It was quite a surprise when I ended up with around 15 short clips featuring an owl.
The owl spent quite a bit of time by our laurel tree and at one stage even falls asleep. Around 5am the owl seems to be looking around at something, just above its head are the branches of a large lilac tree where many birds spend their day, I am presuming the smaller garden birds such as the Blue tits, Dunnocks and Robins are becoming active. At the end of the film you can see the milk float drive down our lane and the owl fly off.
Storm Doris hit Oxfordshire last night, the wind whistle around the house so much I had trouble sleeping.
During the day the wind grew in strength reaching gusts of up to 50 to 60 mph.
After school I had a quick walk around to see if anything had happened near my house. A single hare was sat in the middle of the field, low to the ground to keep out of the wind. Two Roe deers seemed completely unbothered by the wind, while another five deers sheltered in the woods.
By the badger sett the huge conifer conifer that always stood out against the oaks, hazel and ash trees has now fallen. We spent some time checking to make sure that none of the Badger sett entrances had been affected. The badgers are going to have a bit of a shock when they come out tonight.
It is such a shame to see this tree now absent from the skyline.
A smaller tree also toppled by the wind
The woodland floor is slowly turning green with all the Bluebell shoots, which have rapidly grown over the past week. The Primroses by the stream are now flowering and the Blackthorn has the beginnings of blossom.
A couple of discarded feathers on the ground caught my eye. Thanks to Ed Drewitt who identified them as flank feathers from a Fieldfare.
Appleton Wildlife Diary by Alex White 
Lovely post Alex. We got our fair share of Storm Doris here in the west of Ireland too, and I think we are experiencing the tail-end of her this evening. It’s absolutely howling outside as I type this. Thankfully, I haven’t come across much damage in the last two days. It’s a pity about that pine tree though, I always feel sad when I see a fallen tree 😦
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Glad you didn’t have much damage.
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You are so lucky to have such close encounters with a barn owl. Although I love our local tawny owls very much, I would like to see a barn owl now and then. Your observations do show that the two species can co-exist, which is good news.
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We are very lucky to live between open fields and woodland, ideal for both types of owls. We also have a little owl, but I haven’t managed to get a photo of it.
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I have also seen the Barn Owl fly off early evening (around 7.30ish) swooping across the road from your side to the other near the footpath to Eaton.
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Glad you have seen it too. I haven’t seen it for the last three nights, probably due to the wind.
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