Little Owl and Brown Hare

At a site in North Leeds we spotted a Little Owl settled on the gatepost of a nearby farmhouse, fixing us in its sights momentarily, it decided on a quick exit and we continued on. A few minutes later and a little further down the road we noticed it perched on a fencepost by a dry stone wall. This time it wasn't us that held its attention but a Brown Hare that approached and continued on apparently oblivious to the Little Owl overhead.

Local Leeds sightings

One of our regular haunts is currently home to Lapwing chicks, about 6 of them with more on the way I reckon. We stop by every week to observe from a distance, its great to see them develop, although they're too far away to get a decent pic. The field often yields new surprises. A recent trip brought a couple of Brown Hare, more golden than brown, and a glimpse of two Red Legged Partridge.

Scanning the dry stone wall behind us I paused to take a second look at a rounded shape resembling the grey brown colour of the stone and was delighted when it turned out to be a Little Owl. We haven't seen one around here for over a year, really chuffed to get a glimpse if only for a minute or two before it slipped away undetected.

Slightly closer but awful quality, just to confirm the sighting really.

A good excuse to bring out this pic, here's the Little Owl that we first saw in wintery conditions in the area over a year ago, perched on a fence post. You really can't tire of a Little Owl can you?