Tawny Owls, Kensington Gardens

Dedicated patch worker Des McKenzie discovered a brood of three Tawny Owls in Kensington Gardens in central London on Monday. On Tuesday morning one owlet had fallen out of the tree and was rescued by the Royal Parks department and was later returned to the site after dark, to avoid disturbance from the many dogs in the area. After my two day trip back home to Scotland with two overnight coach journeys at the weekend, I slept in and missed the excitement. However, I managed down early this morning before work and located the owlets which were being severely harassed by up to 100 Carrion Crows and over 30 Ring-necked Parakeets at times. Meanwhile I was being harassed by up to 12 unleashed dogs accompanied by professional (I use that term very loosely) dog walkers who had no control over them as they lept up at the tripod and me with their dirty paws. The adult owl which had ignored me up until now was getting bored with the mobbing and even took time to look down at the commotion below. Still, this was a rather minor inconvenience compared with say, getting stoned by the local neds at Brent Reservoir in North London. Oh, the joys of big city birding... Many thanks to Des for the gen and directions.