I've had some good owl karma this year, seeing both Tawny Owl and Long-eared Owl in January, a hunting Short-eared Owl in March and two new species during my US trip in April. Two weekends ago, I tried an evening walk in the Sonian Forest and, although I heard at least three Tawny Owls, I was unable to locate any. A visiting birder had mentioned Tawny Owl was on his target list, so I suggested we give it a try last weekend, confident we should at least hear them but not really expecting to see one. We started much too early, however, and it took almost 90 minutes before we heard anything, but then we were suddenly surrounded by begging calls. After a good amount of searching, I finally found a recently fledged Tawny Owl sitting in a sapling at eye level, with a myriad of dancing fireflies making the observation even more magical. The Little Owls of Brussels, on the other hand, are not co-operating and have been hiding every time I have tried to see them so far this year, although I did find this Little Grebe sitting on an unusually exposed nest.
