Feb 1st Ipswich

Tawny owls are the commonest owl species in the UK. They are also the one species that happen to live in towns and cities with us. The only problem is, they are nocturnal. By night, they are actively hunting and busy claiming their territories with their iconic hooting calls. By day, however, they are almost impossible to locate unless you happen to know a roost site or stumble upon one being mobbed by defensive blackbirds and other birds. I have encountered these owls in the dark on several occasions, but have never seen one in the day before. With my year of finding bird species I've never gotten a decent photo of underway, tawny owls are high up the list.

I've asked around to see if anyone knows of a roost site in Norfolk, but with very little success. There was the site in North Elmham, but I ended up empty handed. No one else came up with another site. Well, actually, there was one. However, it wasn't in Norfolk. It was in Suffolk, and even worse, it was in Ipswich. As a Norwich City fan, I had no intention of travelling into enemy territory, around the streets and parks of our arch rivals. But I've come to the point where I'm out of any other options.

Tawny Owl

So, if I wanted to see and photograph a tawny owl, I had to take a train out to Ipswich to a park where one had been seen sitting out in the open on the same oak tree since 2007. It did disappear between 2017-2018, but it appears to be back since November. This individual has become a bit of a local celebrity. She was given the name 'Mabel' and erected a wooden owl sculpture with her name engraved on it beside her tree. However, most tawny owls only live for around 5 years, with a few remarkable individuals reaching the age of 10, so for this owl to be Mabel would be beyond remarkable. This could well be a different owl, perhaps one of Mabel's offspring. If I wanted to see a tawny in broad daylight, then seeing 'Mabel II' was a very good opportunity that I couldn't pass down.

As I stated earlier, as a Norwich fan, I've detested the idea of coming to Ipswich, so this was my first (and only) visit. I used my new phone to navigate the streets of the town, but once I arrived to Christchurch Park where the owl lives, I had no idea where about this tree was. This park had plenty of paths and trees, I didn't know where to look first. I ended up wandering around in the hope of stumbling upon the tree by chance. But, I came across a duck pond with several mandarin ducks and a single male hooded merganser on it instead. It was here a kind elderly woman came up to me, initially asking about the merganser (she apparently hadn't seen it on this pond before) at first, only to discuss about the owl and its whereabouts. With her help, I made my way to the owl tree, which was pretty obvious with the sculpture being there. It was a matter of seconds when I spotted the owl itself.


Mandarin Duck

Hooded Merganser

Mable II (Again)

The owl sat within a hollow at the very top of the tallest branch like a very fluffy Christmas tree angel, peering back down at me with a half asleep expression. It was enough to make anyone go weak at the knees saying 'Awww! So cute!" There was some kind of park run going on when I was at the park with hundreds of people, young and old, taking part. They ran in what seemed to be an endless stream of rushing people, but every now and then, some of them stopped to take a look at Mabel II. She is that popular and loved that they couldn't help themselves but to say hello to the owl in a tree.



After my time with Mable II, I went to the nearby cemetery where I was told ring-necked parakeets have been hanging out. I didn't see any though, just a sparrowhawk circling above. With that, I decided to make it back to the train. By the time I was crossing the bridge that led to the railway station, Ipswich fans were making their way to Portman Road in the opposite direction. Good job I wasn't wearing my Norwich shirt this morning. And whilst waiting on a bench on the platform for my train to arrive, another train stopped behind me. Its doors open and as soon as it did, a raucous chanting chorus of "'Boro!" made me jump out of my skin. The opposing team's fans had arrived and it was Peterborough United. I was extremely happy when I heard news that Peterborough thrashed Ipswich 4-1!