Back on the St Aldhelms patch again. The light NE winds at the end of Dorset's Spring migration suggested there might be a few migrants. But the weather was too nice and sunny. If there had been the intermittent showers that are falling as I write this Blog Post, maybe there would have been more migrants than the singles of Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff that I saw.
I ended up at my seawatching rock, the Delphinus Seat, named after it was the first place I saw Short-beaked Common Dolphin on the patch. A thirty minute seawatch failed to produce more than a handful of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Black-headed Gulls drifting by. I was also keeping a good eye above the horizon in the hope of an arriving Raptor. Three in/off Swifts were the only highlight. It was time to looked around the rest of Quarry Ledge, which produced the Butterflies that will be in the next Blog Post, but nothing else.
The final coastal stop was my original seawatching spot above the Garden, where I spent another even quieter thirty minutes looking at the sea. However, when I seawatch at the Garden, I also check the vegetated ledge, which is a steep drop below the seawatch spot: in the hope of something in the bushes or the lone Sycamore. This ledge was cultivated up to the sixties by Billy Winspit who was the old quarryman, who owned the big house in Winspit Valley. Since his death in the late sixties, it has rewilded itself. I was doing well with Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Wren in the Garden, when I saw a Tawny Owl fly out from the cliff into the Sycamore. In all my many years of watching this area, it's only the third time I've seen a Tawny Owl here. After a few minutes of scanning, I found where it was sitting in the Sycamore. Finally, I was going to get my first photos of Tawny Owl.
Given it's taken me over twelve years to photograph a Tawny Owl and it didn't appear worried about my presence, I was keen to get more than one eye in the photo. I made sure the scope was safety laid down on the steep slope, before slowly and carefully moving down the slope. I know a number of locals wouldn't enjoy visiting the regular seawatching spot, given the slope. This is the first time I had moved to the steeper slope that was closer to the vegetated ledge. A slip here would mean joining the Tawny Owl in the vegetated quarry and probably not being seen again, but I felt happy to get a bit closer as I couldn't see any life insurance reps around. After about eight metres I was in the best position for a photo and finally I could see both eyes.
It was time to leave the Tawny Owl in peace and hope the local Blackbird didn't spot it and disturb its peace. It was a good thing it hadn't rained, I wouldn't have liked to move on the steep slope if the vegetation was wet.