This was an extra-curricular evening outing for the sole purpose of seeing Barn Owls. Four of us met up at 19:30 at the lower of the two car parks on the Hawksworth road out of Baildon Village. Due to recent rains, sections of the track (mainly at the start) that lead to Sconce were muddy & puddled, so boots were needed. On reaching the scout camp we turned left & followed the boundary wall path till it reached a huddle of buildings. This took less than half an hour.
We began scanning the fields on the otherside of the stone wall that separates the moorland from the farmed area. Over the next hour we were treated to the delights of trilling Curlews, some of which flew over our heads; the plaintive calls of Lapwings, numerous Pipits & as we were departing a small flock of Linnets. Eagle-eyed Sue Z spotted a Little Owl that was perched on top of a derelict stone building.
Eventually Julia did spot a pale bird that was sitting atop of a far off wall. None of us could get a good enough view through our binoculars to identify it. However, Sue's camera is a superior type of kit & we could see through her view finder that it looked owl like. Final confirmation was reached when it slowly rose & banked its way behind a farm building. A distant view but at least we had seen one. We called it a day shortly before 21:00.
John Gavaghan