Feeding Frenzy

This week I have made a couple of visits to the Pilling area hoping to see some owls.There are good numbers of short eared owls in the country but none have yet reached the Pilling area.A few years ago there were daily sightings of short eared owls and birdwatchers and photographers flocked to Scronkey near Pilling to see these magnificent owls at close quarters. I was one of the lucky ones and obtained some wonderful images of these special birds.Hopefully some may still arrive to delight us again.

Despite the lack of shorties my visit was made memorable by the sight of huge numbers of starlings feeding in the fields at Eagland Hill Pilling.These would be birds from the roost at Blackpool North Pier spending the day at Pilling before returning to Blackpool in the evening.I wouldn't like to estimate the numbers of birds present but it would certainly be many thousands and they kept me busy with the camera for a couple of hours as they moved around the area.I hope the above images give some idea of the spectacle at Eagland Hill but again it is something that must be seen to be appreciated.

I was lucky later with a brief sighting of a barn owl and a ringtail hen harrier near Scronkey but the light was poor and I was not quick enough with the camera. All in all though it had been an exciting couple of afternoons in the Pilling area made memorable by the activities of the vast flocks of starlings.Also shown above a shot of a couple of roe deer enjoying the afternoon sun. Roe deer are never easy to approach and those above were quite some way from the camera but they added some variety to the week's sightings. Hope you enjoy the images above and my account of another week in the Lancashire countryside. Thanks for looking in.