Cossington Meadows this evening

After finishing my early shift today I nipped down to Cossington Meadows and saw three Short-eared Owls hunting over the Swan Meadow and the Moor. One Barn Owl was also seen hunting over the nearby Wood Meadow and I heard at least three Little Owls calling in the nearby trees.
Whilst waiting for the appearance of the Owls I noted that at least 2,000+ Starlings roosted in the reedbed next to the Moor Pool.

Short-eared Owl at Cossington Meadows.

Thanks to John Swift for supplying this excellent photo of one of the Short-eared Owls( It looks like one of dark birds seen over Swan Meadow).

Stonechats at Cossington Meadows LRWT

Thanks to Paul Riddle for a couple of photos of the Stonechats down at Cossington Meadows this weekend.

Short-eared Owl 3 - 2 Barn Owl

Another large, dark type Short-eared Owl tonight. That makes three birds were seen today. Only two Barn Owl hunting as well. Maybe the wind was a bit too strong. Certainly the Short-eareds weren’t as obliging as yesterday.

Last night Matt Merritt LROS member and Features editor for Bird Watching Magazine told me that eight Kestrel were seen feeding over Swan Meadow the other day. Obviously this year has been a good ‘vole year’ in the area as a Buzzard was hunting as well at dusk, using the strong winds to hover over the meadow and three Grey Heron were in the meadow as well.

Let’s hope that the area can attract another Hen Harrier this year – a real omission on my Soar Valley list. I missed the last bird in the winter of 2002/3 due to sheer incompetence, neglect and bad weather.

Owl-tastic Cossington Meadows this evening!

Hi all, this evening at Cossington Meadows between 4.00pm and 5.15pm, I saw 2 Short-eared Owls (SEOs), at least 1 Barn Owl and 2 Little Owls hunting over the Swan Meadow and the surrounding fields.
I first picked up the SEOs as their flew in from the northern part of the reserve and then hunted over the meadow for a good ten minutes, then at least one Barn Owl was also noted hunting over the meadow and then finally 2 Little Owls were seen and heard calling in the large hedge between the Moor and the Swan Meadow.

Barn Owls at Cossington Meadows in the last few days.

Although the Little Bittern did not stick around for the twitching masses, it was quite interesting that at least two Barn Owls have been recorded by a few observers hunting around the swan meadow for the last week.
Like the Little Bittern this is probably a first of the reserve and I know that a Barn Owl has been recorded sporadically in the Soar Valley. So it might worth keeping an eye out for these birds as hopefully their will be wintering on the reserve?

*MEGA* Little Bittern at Cossington Meadows LRWT.

Hi all, here is a couple of photos Jim Graham took of the Little Bittern he saw down at Cossington Meadows LRWT (don't worry Andy, I got permission from Jim for the photos unlike Lee Evans!!) on the 19Th October 2009.