A magical morning listening to skylarks and watching a barn owl hunt across the marsh.
These watercolour sketches recall the owl as it worked its way from one end of Portbury marsh to the other – a beautiful sight on a beautiful June morning.
Flying past the outer wall of Royal Portbury Dock which was silhouetted in a blue haze at the sunrise end of the marsh.
At first light the dock was shrouded in mist but cleared gradually to reveal the oil tanker Marika in port.
Looking toward the dockyard cranes and the prow of the Marika.
Mid marsh with the Welsh coast and Denny Island in the background . . .
. . . and with breakfast spotted.
A fly past with the Denny Shoal buoy and a large industrial building on the Welsh side of the estuary in the background.
Last but not least a pencil sketch of a barn owl mobbed by magpies as seen on a dusk visit in January.
Useful link
For more about barn owl visit the RSPB website at: www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/barnowl/index.aspx
Hi! Loved the sketches. Reminds me of cold frosty mornings spent owl watching on the marshes near where I used to live.
Thank you Richard for such a lovely comment and I am glad they brought back fond memories.
I am looking forward to some more of those cold frosty mornings . . . and if I am lucky, to seeing owls again.
Hilary