Tawny owl

 Ashes limestone quarry at Stanhope in Weardale ceased operations over 80 years ago and has since become a haven for wildlife. The bottom of the quarry is now a lake with a good range of wetland plant species, including mare's tail, reed mace and water mint, and is a breeding site for several dragonfly and damselfly species. The vertical cliff face hosts nesting jackdaws and sometimes its larger cavities ae occupied by less familiar bird species, like this tawny owl that I saw there a couple of weeks ago.

A masterclass from an owl in how to ignore abusers

 

A few weeks ago I spotted this tawny owl in a tree in a garden across the road from our house. I couldn't miss it really, because it was being harassed by a raucous flock of about thirty jackdaws and crows, plus two very in-your-face magpies.

The unperturbed owl gave an absolutely perfect masterclass in how to deal with abusers, completely ignoring them. None were brave enough to come within reach of its talons, and after about ten minutes they had all lost interest, and left it in peace.

The owl is still around, and recently I heard it hooting at dawn in our back garden.

Backstone Bank wood

Thursday's Guardian Country Diary is about this fledgling tawny owl that we found comfortably ensconced in the crevice formed by the roots of an oak tree in Backstone Bank woods in Weardale. 

Here it is on the day that we found it .....

.... and here it is a few days later, although this might not be the same bird; it most likely had siblings, which the parents had distributed around the wood and would come back to feed at dusk.

Backstone bank is an ancient woodland SSSI and part of the forest that once clothed Weardale. It's a lovely sessile oak wood on acid soil, covering the hillside on the eastern edge of Tunstall reservoir.It's a popular spot for birders, not least because ....

...pied flycatchers nest there. Above, a male, below, .....

..... his consort, who is nesting ....

... in this nest box.

While we sat and watched this long-tailed tit caught caterpillars ...

... and this robin paid us a visit.

The woodland has lots of fallen wood that is left to decay, gradually sinking under a blanket of moss and woodland wild flowers.

There are some nice stands of wood horsetail and lots of ...

... bilberry.

Yellow pimpernel, an indicator species of ancient woodland, is plentiful here.

The trees are mainly sessile oak, with ash, hazel holly and birch and some scattered bird cherry and rowan.

All in all, a lovely place for a tawny owl to raise a family.