We are still away in Clitheroe on the edge of Bowland Forest, where I'm quite certain there are no Green Herons, see here and here for one just 20 minutes from home.
When Jack told me that was a white Crow that regularly fed in the field at the end of their road we decided to walk down to see it it was there. Within a minute or so Jack spotted it flying over and although it didn't land to feed amongst the sheep, it did pose on this roof with a more normal friend.
Mike Watson, a regular in the Bowland forest area, now he works for Birdquest told me about a Barn, not far from here (Clitheroe) where a couple of Tawny Owls roost. It seems that Pete had previously taken Jack to see them, so he recognised the barn as we looked along the road, over the moors not far from Slaidburn.
In fact we could only see one, but it didn't seen disturbed when we peered through the doorway at it sitting high on a beam. A strange angle in a strange place for a Tawny Owl photograph. In spite of the area being in Bowland Forest there are only a few small copses in the area.
Walking along a path near the River Hodder in Slaidburn Pam found these two beautiful Fungi. As usual with fungi I need to declare my lack of knowledge, but using the guide we have, we think that they are Clitocybe geotropa. The book says that they are edible and taste good, but I don't think I'd risk trusting my identification skills.
2 comments:
Glad to see you caught up with the Green Heron, it would have been very cruel indeed to have missed it whilst on family duty! Interesting the 'Forest' of Bowland gets its name from the latin term 'forestis silva', which was brought to Britain by the Normans. Silva means 'woodland' and forestis 'outside'. This phrase was eventually shortened to simply forest and refers to an area of unenclosed woodland, heathland and farmland used for hunting. The New Forest being a prime example. Keep up the good work! BR Mike
A Tawny Owl update. Mark's dad met a chap at a birding site near the barn on 3 Nov, who said he had just been photographing it but it had flown off out of the barn. Depressing stuff. We think he is from the Burnley area but don't know exactly who he is. This is why we have never photographed it ourselves. Can anyone reading this please take care not to disturb this bird?
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