Ulysses is the name we gave to our local Tawny
owl, who over the past few years has become a kind of village mascot, following
us back to the village from our vegetable patch, flying from post to post and
peering at us curiously, often perching on lampposts and television aerials to
call out his unmistakable ‘uuuh-uh-uhuhuuuh’.
Weeks back he was seen on intimate terms with his mate and we supposed
they were now busy raising a family in one of the nearby Holm oaks. But then about two weeks ago he appeared in
the village and called throughout the night, and some of the day. He’s been back every day or night since. At first we were amused, but on seeing him
persistently calling, flying around the village and ignoring the angry
Blackbird which was jabbering at him from the same TV aerial, we started to
feel concerned.
Then Sergio, our local shepherd got in touch
with me and told me he’d found the carcass of a bird. I went to see it. Although fairly decomposed, it was quite
clearly a Tawny owl, probably victim to a hard chicken wire fence which it
presumably flew into. Was this Ulysses’
missing partner? I can hear him
hoo-hooing disconsolately as I write.
It’s truly heart-breaking. I can
only hope that he’s managed to rear any chicks alone, and can eventually find
another partner.
On a lighter note a pair of little owl have
adopted a dead holm oak and are often to be seen perched on its branches (or
otherwise occupied) as we drive past.
They seem totally un-phased by passing cars. As it’s not a good place to stop I only
managed this shot on my mobile...
Spring has taken it’s time arriving this year,
despite unseasonably warm days in February and March. But it has rained buckets, and it’s a joy to
see everything so green and full of colour, everywhere covered in masses of
grasses and flowers.
There are tell-tale tracks of who’s been in the
neighbourhood...
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| badger tracks |
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| newt or salamander tracks |
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| roe deer tracks
When the sun does come out every bird in the vicinity seems to appear suddenly from among the greenery and compete to be seen or heard. Here are a few...
                 
melodiuos warbler
melodious warbler song
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Meanwhile in the mountains there is fresh snow
and the Red Rock thrush we looked for in vain a few weeks ago has finally arrived. It shares the mountain with Dunnocks, Ravens
and Hortolan bunting.
red rock thrush
dunnocks
On a walk in a pine forest with birder friends just
45km away we were very excited to find recent signs of Red squirrel, not normally associated with this area.
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| squirrel dining table |
We also came across several Pied flycatcher, one
of whom I managed to film singing, and due to the size and shape of the white
forehead mark and primary bases, and lack of white on the tail we suspect to be
of the native subspecies iberiae. There are plenty of woodpeckers in the woods who have provided nice nesting holes for them.
pied flycatcher
A Short-toed treecreeper appeared and
disappeared, not into a tree hole but into a stone wall.
short-toed treecreeper
And we have proud lodgers on the corner of our
house: a handsome Spanish sparrow couple, no doubt dislodged by the butchery
done to the poplars in the village gardens last year which were not so much
pollarded as truncated (municipal madness I tried to put a stop to but, alas,
could not). Here is the male guarding the
nest, complete with flowers.
spanish sparrows
A visit to our reservoir brought two lovely
surprises: a Turtle dove cooing and an young Osprey roosting for the night.
turtle dove
osprey
