They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 15/11/2013 19:03, sacha wrote:
They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?

http://www.godsownclay.com/TawnyOwls...owlcalls1.html
You may find this site of interest Sacha, page 2 has good long
recordings of the calls.
David

On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 19:03:57 +0000, sacha wrote:

They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?

What a coincidence! Whilst we frequently hear them calling and
answering during the evening, a male woke me up at 6 this morning with
a series of very loud/close calls.

A couple of weeks ago some unusually penetrating calls alerted us to
the presence of a male perched on top of our bird feeder pole.

From memory it is only the male that makes the familiar hooting call
whereas the female makes a noticeably simpler and shorter sound.
--
rbel

On 2013-11-15 20:58:34 +0000, David Hill said:

On 15/11/2013 19:03, sacha wrote:
They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?

http://www.godsownclay.com/TawnyOwls...owlcalls1.html
You may find this site of interest Sacha, page 2 has good long
recordings of the calls.
David

I do find it interesting, David, it's a great source. Thank you so
much. It seems that we're hearing the males staking their claims. We
sometimes hear them in day time, too and they were vociferous at about
11pm last night and around 4am yesterday morning. For some strange and
personal reason, I find it a sort of "all's right with the world" sound
- very reassuring that things go on as they're meant to, I suppose.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2013-11-15 21:47:58 +0000, rbel said:

On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 19:03:57 +0000, sacha wrote:

They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?

What a coincidence! Whilst we frequently hear them calling and
answering during the evening, a male woke me up at 6 this morning with
a series of very loud/close calls.

A couple of weeks ago some unusually penetrating calls alerted us to
the presence of a male perched on top of our bird feeder pole.

From memory it is only the male that makes the familiar hooting call
whereas the female makes a noticeably simpler and shorter sound.

That would make sense from what I was hearing at about 4am today. I may
have to sue these birds for avian-induced exhaustion! There was quite a
long call from one of them and then a short call that was almost a
query, if we go into Beatrix Potter land. They're extremely vocal just
now.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 16/11/13 18:29, sacha wrote:

That would make sense from what I was hearing at about 4am today. I may
have to sue these birds for avian-induced exhaustion! There was quite a
long call from one of them and then a short call that was almost a
query, if we go into Beatrix Potter land. They're extremely vocal just
now.

Beatrix Potter was an extremely able naturalist, and illustrated
severalbooks - I have a mushroom book (surprise-surprise!) illustrated
by her.

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

On 2013-11-16 18:56:26 +0000, RustyHinge said:

On 16/11/13 18:29, sacha wrote:

That would make sense from what I was hearing at about 4am today. I may
have to sue these birds for avian-induced exhaustion! There was quite a
long call from one of them and then a short call that was almost a
query, if we go into Beatrix Potter land. They're extremely vocal just
now.

Beatrix Potter was an extremely able naturalist, and illustrated
severalbooks - I have a mushroom book (surprise-surprise!) illustrated
by her.

She was indeed an observer of nature and all my children (3) have a
complete set of her books. A problem has arisen as we - not she - have
moved away from being aware that animals are killed to provide food for
humans and young children believe the anthropomorphic view of animals
that she introduced simply as fun. In her day, young children would
have been very aware of animals=food. Ray, who is 80, often saw his
mother drawing a chicken or rabbit for their pot. The chicken would,
for most back then, have been a luxury food. Now, all the majority of
children see, is a tidy piece of something unrecognisable on a
polystyrene tray. In Miss Potter's day, most families would have had a
few rabbits in the back garden ready for the pot, father would have had
a gun to shoot a pigeon or five. The current perception isn't her fault
but the change in how we live.
Now I have to look for that mushroom book. I had no idea it existed!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 16/11/2013 20:16, sacha wrote:
Ray, who is 80, often saw his mother drawing a chicken or rabbit for
their pot.

I suppose you can't get lower calorie than that. D drawing instead of
the real thing, but a bad artist could result in you having a pigs ear.

On 16/11/2013 18:29, sacha wrote:
On 2013-11-15 21:47:58 +0000, rbel said:

On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 19:03:57 +0000, sacha wrote:

They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?

What a coincidence! Whilst we frequently hear them calling and
answering during the evening, a male woke me up at 6 this morning with
a series of very loud/close calls.

A couple of weeks ago some unusually penetrating calls alerted us to
the presence of a male perched on top of our bird feeder pole.

From memory it is only the male that makes the familiar hooting call
whereas the female makes a noticeably simpler and shorter sound.

That would make sense from what I was hearing at about 4am today. I may
have to sue these birds for avian-induced exhaustion! There was quite a
long call from one of them and then a short call that was almost a
query, if we go into Beatrix Potter land. They're extremely vocal just
now.


Sacha,
I don't know where else you posted this, but my owls have found out
about it and spent a very happy(for them) few minutes this morning just
after 5am giving me a very frequent and loud wake up call.
I'm sure they thought it a hoot, I didn't.

On 2013-11-16 20:33:44 +0000, David Hill said:

On 16/11/2013 18:29, sacha wrote:
On 2013-11-15 21:47:58 +0000, rbel said:

On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 19:03:57 +0000, sacha wrote:

They're shouting their little heads off the last couple of nights. We
know a Tawny is usually in the churchyard next door to our house but
this sounds as if three are competing for territory. One sounds as if
it's on our window sill, though we know that's unlikely! Is it the
males only that are noisy at this time of year, or do the females stake
their claims, too?

What a coincidence! Whilst we frequently hear them calling and
answering during the evening, a male woke me up at 6 this morning with
a series of very loud/close calls.

A couple of weeks ago some unusually penetrating calls alerted us to
the presence of a male perched on top of our bird feeder pole.

From memory it is only the male that makes the familiar hooting call
whereas the female makes a noticeably simpler and shorter sound.

That would make sense from what I was hearing at about 4am today. I may
have to sue these birds for avian-induced exhaustion! There was quite a
long call from one of them and then a short call that was almost a
query, if we go into Beatrix Potter land. They're extremely vocal just
now.


Sacha,
I don't know where else you posted this, but my owls have found out
about it and spent a very happy(for them) few minutes this morning just
after 5am giving me a very frequent and loud wake up call.
I'm sure they thought it a hoot, I didn't.

I hope they didn't read the above, then! I posted something about it
in the bird group, so I'm afraid it's got into the avian equivalent of
the News of the World! We do enjoy hearing them, though not always at
4am, I must admit.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2013-11-16 20:30:23 +0000, David Hill said:

On 16/11/2013 20:16, sacha wrote:
Ray, who is 80, often saw his mother drawing a chicken or rabbit for
their pot.

I suppose you can't get lower calorie than that. D drawing instead of
the real thing, but a bad artist could result in you having a pigs ear.

But with a great appreciation of fuzzy bunnies! ;-)

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 16/11/13 20:16, sacha wrote:

Now I have to look for that mushroom book. I had no idea it existed!

Wayside & Woodland Fungi
by W.P.K.Findlay
including colour illustrations by Beatrix Potter

Frederick Warne & Co UK 1967

ISBN 0 7232 0008 4

Beware! The book lists Paxillus involutus as edible when cooked. This is
manifestly wrong: it is deadly, but unlike a lot of other poisonous
fungi the poison is cumulative.

This became known during WWII when a glut of P. involutus in Poland
coincided with famine. People began dropping like flies, and 2 and 2
were put together...

This information was published (New Naturalist series, Mushrooms and
Toadstools by Dr. John Ramsbottom) in 1953, and probably before -
though mushroom books were pretty thin on the ground in those days.

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

On 16/11/13 22:27, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-11-16 20:33:44 +0000, David Hill said:

Sacha,
I don't know where else you posted this, but my owls have found out
about it and spent a very happy(for them) few minutes this morning
just after 5am giving me a very frequent and loud wake up call.
I'm sure they thought it a hoot, I didn't.

I hope they didn't read the above, then! I posted something about it in
the bird group, so I'm afraid it's got into the avian equivalent of the
News of the World! We do enjoy hearing them, though not always at 4am,
I must admit.

Only on Thursday I was having a conversation with an eagle owl.

He lives in the back room of an antique shop, and sometimes, when a
customer is old enough to be mistaken for stock, he or she is lurking in
a dusty corner behind the aspidistra, the person is treated to a
conversation of

W°°ooOowww W°°ooOowww
W°°ooOowww W°°ooOowww
w°°ooOowww w°°ooOowww
W°°ooOowww W°°ooOowww,

with both participants moving their heads sideways on (along) their
shoulders.

Should you fail to do this, the conversation either is one-sided, or ceases.

It is important to remember this when speaking to an owl.

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

"RustyHinge" wrote in message
...
On 16/11/13 20:16, sacha wrote:

Now I have to look for that mushroom book. I had no idea it existed!

Wayside & Woodland Fungi
by W.P.K.Findlay
including colour illustrations by Beatrix Potter

Frederick Warne & Co UK 1967

ISBN 0 7232 0008 4

Beware! The book lists Paxillus involutus as edible when cooked. This is
manifestly wrong: it is deadly, but unlike a lot of other poisonous fungi
the poison is cumulative.

This became known during WWII when a glut of P. involutus in Poland
coincided with famine. People began dropping like flies, and 2 and 2 were
put together...

This information was published (New Naturalist series, Mushrooms and
Toadstools by Dr. John Ramsbottom) in 1953, and probably before - though
mushroom books were pretty thin on the ground in those days.

We have Antonio Carluccio goes wild
Mushrooms by Roger Phillips
Mushroom Magic by Michael Jordon
The Observers book of mushrooms and toadstools (pocket guide)

No lovely illustrations by Beatrix Potter though
?

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/