Summer Solstice
Tuesday 21st June marked the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year and a Little Owl encounter that I won’t forget in a hurry.
If you’ve been following me for a while over on my Instagram (@charlottejardinephotography), you’ll know that I love talking about my wildlife encounters and sharing the bits that people don’t get to ‘see’. I thought I would start a ‘behind the lens’ series where I can share more with you about a specific image, and what happened before I got the shot!
Where better place to start than with my favourite owl species; the Little Owl.
On my drive to work each day, I pass an old brick barn that looks like it’s seen better days. With one side engulfed in ivy and the other with broken windows and peeling paint, it seemed like the perfect hideout for wildlife.
The barn is separated from the road by a small hedgerow and marks the start of village. With open farmland surrounding the other three sides of the barn and beautiful oak trees dotted between the hedgerows, anyone who knows anything about little owls will appreciate why I thought there could be some nearby.
I checked the barn every morning and after several false encounters (bloody pigeons) and no actual sightings, I began to think i’d made a mistake. I usually take a different route home from work through the winter as the dark evenings, winding country lanes and tired work eyes spell a recipe for disaster but on one particular evening in March, I decided to take the ‘barn route’ home.
As I neared the barn I slowed down and spotted a small round figure sat on the roof. At the entrance to the farm the barn belongs to, there is a gravel lay-by so I quickly pulled in to get a better look. I snapped an awful photo on my phone to share with a wildlife photography friend, and as proof the little owls were there.
The days and weeks went on and the sightings of the owl became more frequent. I began to learn where it liked to perch to warm up in the sun. One morning slightly further up the road from the barn, a little owl flew right in front of my car across the road and into a tree! These sightings continued most mornings so I decided it was time to take a closer look and see whether there was an opportunity to get some photos.
I packed up my gear and took the short (5 minute) drive to the barn from my house at around ten to nine. What I didn’t expect to see were three (!) little owls sat together on a pile of logs a few meters from the barn. I pulled over slowly as not to spook them and frantically unzipped my camera bag to grab my camera. A word of advice to any new photographers out there, and something that still catches me out on occasion…always have your camera ready (turned on and set up), as you never know what you’re going to arrive to!
Frustratingly, the sound of my car pulling onto the gravel must have spooked them as they flew off to a nearby oak. I got in position but didn’t have to wait long before they returned.
Gradually, they became comfortable with my presence and learnt that I wasn’t a threat. They went back to catching dinner and would fly up vertically and then dive down left and right, following terrified insects trying their best to avoid becoming dinner. The corner of an old rusty hay trailer was a favourite perch for one of the owls, making my life slightly easier when preparing to get some shots. Occasionally, one would fly across the farm and land on another part of the barn roof. I would creep around the barn slowly trying to get a closer look, but it always one step ahead of me, popping its head over the top of the roof to get a better look at me. As the light faded and photos became tricker, I put my camera away and just watched them go about their business. To my surprise, two juvenile little owls appeared with the other adult and they began calling across the field to one another under the setting sun.
One of the adults would also favour a fence post, marking the boundary of the house adjacent to the barn. I wonder if the people who own that house have any idea what happens each evening at the bottom of their garden?
I returned the following evening and a couple more after that just to watch them. I’m really happy with a few of the shots I got but due to the fading light, a lot of my images are quite noisy. It was an amazing experience and I will keep an eye on them as the summer progresses and hope they have another successful brood next year.
Thank you for taking the time to read my first post and I hope you enjoyed it. I can’t wait to share more about my wildlife encounters and more behind the lens stories…there are lots more to come!