Two walks in Hawthorn Dene

Walked yesterday and today in Hawthorn Dene. Misty and damp both days.
Yesterday I watched a family of young squirrels feeding in the undergrowth.

Today I got a great view of a great spotted woodpecker as I walked into the wood, watched swifts catching insects over the tree canopy and swallows and house martins feeding over the meadow.

On the way back thorough the wood my attention was drawn to a very noisy group of small birds in the trees. They were mobbing an owl which flew towards me and perched in the fork of a nearby tree. When it turned and looked in my direction two feathery ear tufts rose up on its head. It was a long eared owl, my first sighting of this species. One more for the list!