04/03/2015 Gunners Park, Southend, Essex

Serin: I have been putting this twitch off for far too long now so I decided to just go for it, and I am very glad I did.

I left Wigan around 3.30am and was surprised and thrilled to come across a Barn Owl flying over the car along Wigan Road (A573), right up the road from where I live!

I made good time getting to Essex but parked miles away and struggled to locate the car park where the birds have been favouring.

After getting in touch with local birder Max Hellica, I was soon pointed in the right direction.

Cheers Max.

Once I located the precise site the day turned out to be a perfect twitch. 

The birds were doing a continuous circuit where they would spend some time singing in the Willow at the back of the pond and they would eventually come out and land on a nearby Ash.   

Nice and easy, perch yourself next to the Ash Tree and wait, the bird will soon turn up and show really well. No running around and no long waiting.