I thought they may have gone off to roost before I got to their favourite field but luckily they were still out feeding. As cool as Barn Owls are though they can be trumped, for example by Short-eared Owls. There was at least 1 again on the local patch this evening, with another Barn Owl too! So another owltastic day! Apparently there was at least 6 Short-eared Owls in the lower part of the Lower Derwent Valley (LDV) on Saturday - awesome stuff. I wonder what the record count in the LDV is???
Check out this incredible set of hunting Short-eared Owl pictures taken just up the road by Paul McMullen. These are reproduced here below with permission.
Short-eared Owl © Paul McMullen
Short-eared Owl © Paul McMullen
Short-eared Owl © Paul McMullen
The rest of my walk this morning was fairly uneventful but the snow having almost gone now made for a nice change! There was a couple of Dunnock and Chaffinch in full song too! Spring here soon!
I worked at home today, didn't notice too much in/around the garden as I had my head in a laptop most of the day however I did notice a Cormorant fly over while having my breakfast and a male Sparrowhawk while I was having my lunch that was putting the fear of god into the local Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Greenfinch - oh and I had a Tree Sparrow fly through. Thats about it. Honest!
Aloha Andy - I find it so amazing how our short-eared owl in Hawai'i, called Pueo, looks so very much like yours there.
ReplyDeleteDo your owls also fly only in the daytime? Ours do. Barn owls were imported so they could go after the rats which jumped ship.
Thanks for the images. ~ EB
Those photos are absolutely stunning!!!
ReplyDeleteHi EB, yeah our Short-eared Owls do fly around in the day, but also into the night too. Just a bit easier to appreciate in daylight! How do the owls do at keeping the rats down?
ReplyDeleteThanks Tammy - they are amazing aren't they!! I saw them and thought I want these on my blog to show them off! Hopefully Paul will be sending me some more photos soon too. The eyes are so intent! Poor voles don't stand a chance!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Andy. Im contacting you from Aden Productions as we are researching into a potential wildlife series with Iolo Williams for this coming spring. I we were to visit the Peaks we would love to film short eared owls. Do you think you can help us with locations, and possible take us to the best spots.
ReplyDelete