After an unforgettable stay looking for pygmy owls in the French Alps in October last year (see the post Autumn goblins https://karinswildlifediaries.org/portfolio/autumn-goblins/ ) I can’t wait to get back there this autumn. The pygmy owl, a miniature owl, no bigger than a blackbird is a species very close to my heart. This will be the fifth time I am travelling down to this beautiful valley in the Alps to see them.
But every year is different and whilst we had wall to wall sunshine and blue skies in October 2022, the weather forecast is not very encouraging this time. It reminds me of my very first stay there in November 2018 (see my post https://karinswildlifediaries.org/chevechette-deurope-episode-1/) when we spent 2 days in the pouring rain searching for them.
After a particularly hot and dry autumn up until mid-October, my stay unfortunately coincides with the arrival of a rain front across most of the country. We will be spending our time in the forest, where the light conditions for photography are not ideal, but we should get some nice atmospheres.
On the first day we leave for an area high up in the mountains, where the larch trees will hopefully have started to change colour – down in the valley they are still green despite the recent hot weather.
The ground of the steep slopes is rugged, some of the group carry way too much photographic material to move comfortably and quickly between trees, roots, stumps and boulders. Luckily we don’t have to listen out for too long before making out the first singing owl. On this first day there are only a few brief showers, the lack of light is noticeable below the trees, but the pygmy owl is there and rather cooperative, we spend a good deal of time watching and photographing.
The forecast for the second day is much worse, we decide to spend the day in a different spot, close to a rudimentary shelter, where we can keep dry if we really need to. And it was definitely the right decision, as most of the day it is pouring down. We manage to locate one courageous owl calling, but as soon as the rain beats down harder it flys off to somewhere more sheltered. We can’t blame it, in fact we do the same and retreat to our refuge in the hope that the skies will clear up a bit later on in the day. But as time goes by the skies darken and the rain is coming down harder and harder. In the absence of pygmy owls I venture out under the umbrella to capture some atmospheric shots of the surroundings. The rain really makes the colours stand out, the sycamore trees are only just starting to change colour.. The old trees, covered in lichen glisten in the rain. At around 4 pm everybody is starting to feel the cold take over and given that the weather is very unlikely to improve we make our way back to the cars. A real shame, but in such weather, the pygmy owls are staying put somewhere safe and relatively dry even though they are used to the harsh mountain climate.
So here are the images taken during the 2 days of our search, despite the grim weather and poor light conditions the atmosphere in the autumn forests was amazing and everybody was able to get a selection of beautiful shots. Needless to say they are totally different to the ones I took last year, but that’s the whole point of going more than once.
