Sunday 10th February

Yet another ady with the kids! The weather was fine and although a trip to the coast was attractive I decided a repeat of Friday's afternoon trip would be more relaxing, especially if I made the beer garden of 'The Trickled Trout' my target. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of birds, but again a Kingfisher dosing in the sun in the lower branches of a tree adjacent to Teston Bridge. However I wondered if the Barn Owls I'd seen in the late Summer were still frequenting the nest boxes on the West Farleigh bank? I sat out until just after 5 pm when a screech from one of the nest boxes (viewable by looking towards the river from West Farleigh cricket ground/church) alerted me. Sure enough a fantastic Barn Owl, catching the last rays of the sun posed on the one of the knarled branches of the Oak. It quickly took flight, head hanging low in search of voles. It flew directly at me, hovered momentaril and then looped back and down towards the river, where suddenly as if it had suddenly become lead it dropped to the ground. 2 Crows arrived on the scene and harassed it until it was lost to view, passing over Teston Bridge itself. A few more Owl watches in the offing!