An abundance of owls

If only all winter days were as crisp and bright as today! We got up reasonably early (well, for a Sunday) for a quick scoot round to a local sight on the Ridgeway, where there have been a couple of Short-eared Owls seen recently. The fields at the base of the hill are really sodden & waterlogged, so there were quite a lot of gulls paddling around. Lou kept getting excited every time she saw white wings from the corner of her eye, in case it might be an owl. We did have a possible distant sighting of what looked to be a owl going into a clump of trees to roost, but it was quite a brief glimpse, so couldn't be 100% sure. I'll pop back one afternoon later in the week for another look.

 Driving round the country lanes was very pleasant in the morning sunshine. There were quite a lot of small birds - particularly Corn Buntings, Gold Finches and several Yellowhammers. We also saw a couple of small groups of Fallow Deer browsing in the fields, and a number of Brown Hares.  We had a great view of a pair of Red Kites circling along the ridge, as well as several buzzards perched up.

Corn Bunting

This afternoon, we'd arranged to take my friend Piotr out to the Salisbury Plains in the hope of seeing a Short-eared Owl or two, since he'd never seen one before. Conditions were just about perfect today, with clear skies, sunshine and no wind. Driving out, we passed a large flock of Lapwings feeding in  a semi-flooded field. We arrived at the site just before 1pm, and immediately spotted our first Shortie, quartering over the long grass on the slopes. We spent quite a while watching her catch & eat a vole, before driving on down the valley.

Short-eared Owl

Louise somehow managed to spot our second owl hunkered down on the ground in a sheep field. It seemed to be keeping a close watch on the pair of Kestrels that were hunting up & down the field! We watched it for about 30 minutes, hoping it might take to the wing, however it worked it's way right down into the long grass, so that it was completely hidden.  We had a little while to wait before our next owl sighting, but there was plenty to see in the meantime; several Kestrels wheeling and hovering, Stonechats, Fieldfares and Buntings.

Short-eared Owl

As the afternoon wore on, the owls came thick and fast. We saw at least 7 individuals and possibly up to 12. The far end of the valley was particularly good today, with 4 owls hunting up and down a relatively small sheltered area - much to the consternation of a flock of Fieldfares. There were a further 3 or 4 hunting up the slopes at the top of the valley, and at least one individual in the mid-section.

Short-eared Owl with vole

Short-eared Owl

A really overexposed photo but shows the bushes

The afternoon light was beautiful, especially as the sun started to go down. We had some fantastic close views of some of the birds - one in particular was very obliging in it's choice of post to sit on! It doesn't matter how many Shorties I see; I can never get enough of them!

Last rays of sun

Rousing

I was absolutely kicking myself about a missed opportunity, though... I noticed a small falcon just above us, but with my main attention on the owls, I dismissed it as a Kestrel. Belatedly, I realised it was a Female Merlin, so I should've been shooting away at it when it was right overhead! Still, can't have everything! That's two at close quarters and still no photo....Merlin are definitely a bogey for me!! 

I'm full!!

There are Owls in those fields!!!

Today I took a friend out to the Salisbury Plains, to see if we could see any of the Short-eared Owls that have been so elusive for me on my previous visits. 

The sun was out with only a few scattered clouds, so we thought the chances should be pretty good, as on the previous days it had been raining in the area with some wind. 

On route a few hares and roe deer were seen in the fields, along with the odd buzzard. The weather was pleasant, though cold, when we arrived on the tracks. Other watchers were out,  but not many owls had been seen.  As we drove around, the very tolerant resident Kestrel was perched in his usual spot, and some Stonechats were seen along with a couple of Corn Buntings. 

By late afternoon with no owls being spotted we decided to try a bit further along the valley.  Finally, success! Though distant, two Shorties could be seen quartering over the rough grass. Under a hour of light was left by then, so our fingers were firmly crossed that they would come closer. However, no luck - as they continued up the ridge. 

I should have been paying attention to the bushes on the side of the track, as they like to perch on them. Right enough, one had been perched by the side of the road & as we drove past, off it went! It landed on the ground a short distance further back, allowing a quick record shot. 

Short-eared Owl

We decided to head back to the location of our first sighting and wait. Glad we did, as one continued to hunt and caught a vole. As it flew off with it, what looked like another Owl jumped up and successfully stole her lunch. On closer inspection it was the female Hen Harrier. The disgruntled Owl flew off and perched on one of the hawthorns further back in the field. While we were waiting for more action, the Male Hen Harrier flew past quite distantly. 

Short-eared Owl

As the sun was now setting, we decided to head off and on our way round stopped to have a quick chat with another visiting friend who had been lucky to see 4 owls from his position, though again fairly distant. While we chatting our forth owl appeared, hunting in the distance. We said our farewells and headed out and just on the last 30 meters of track encountered one last Shortie perched fairly close by. 

It was now dusk, so it was a case of up with the ISO and hope for the best!

Short-eared Owl

A couple of records shots of our fifth Owl of the day. Including our friend's sightings there were at least 7 individual birds present. We are assuming this perched bird and the other seen while we were talking were two of the four he saw as they were in the same area. 

Short-eared Owl

Lets hope for some nice weather at the weekend as we are hoping to return.

Sunday Shortie Spotting

Wouldn't you just know it; Saturday was beautiful, sunny and clear all day, but we were stuck in most of the day due to having some plumbing work done. And today when we are free, the weather has been misty, grey & cold!

Walking the dogs this morning, Louise came across some slightly more exotic visitors than the usual garden & woodland species; a pair of Little Egrets. Although they're no longer a particularly rare sighting, it's always odd to see birds which we'd normally expect to find on our Spanish trips on a small steam running through a council estate in the middle of Swindon! If only the weather was more like Spain, too...

In spite of the rather miserable conditions, this afternoon I decided to chance another trip to Salisbury Plains in search of the elusive Short-Eared Owls. There wasn't quite as much to be seen today as when I visited earlier in the week, and much less raptor activity.  Even the local Kestrel was looking more inclined to perch up on the hawthorns than to hunt.

After staking out the owls' favourite valley for some time, we were rewarded with brief appearances by two of them. We only got quite distant views of the birds flying along the brow of the hill - apparently moving from one roost to another. They certainly weren't actively hunting, and the second bird was being harassed by several of the local rooks. Still, it was good to at least get a look at the owls. I'll pop back along later in the week for another go!

As with earlier in the week, there were good numbers of Fieldfares & Redwings, Stonechats and Goldfinches - as well as a group of buntings roosting up for the night inside one of the hawthorn bushes.

Just as we were leaving, a beautiful female Hen Harrier came gliding down the valley, passing very close to us. It's always a pleasure to see these fantastic birds - and it was certainly today's highlight.


Hen Harrier - Ringtail

The search for Shorties

The horrendous weather has had me going a bit stir-crazy over the last few days. So, as the clouds lifted for a couple of hours this afternoon, I decided to head out to the Salisbury Plains to see if I could track down the elusive Short Eared owls. Friends have reliably had some good sightings of 8-11 birds hunting up & down one valley, but somehow we've managed to miss them so far this winter.  Reasoning that the birds should be very active after several days of torrential rain, I was hopeful that today might just be the day.

Despite huge amounts of standing water everywhere, there was plenty of wildlife in evidence. On route to the owl sight, I passed a large concentration of hares in one field, with one group of 6, plus a pair close by.  A small herd of Fallow Deer were also grazing further back in the same field.

Lots of birds to be seen, too - good numbers of Field Fares, Redwings and Goldfinch, as well as a nicely coloured-up pair of Stonechats.

While driving on, I had some good views of the resident Buzzards, as well as hunting male Merlin, and a number of Kestrels, plus a distant male Harrier. All this raptor activity built up my hopes that I might just be lucky with a Shortie sighting!

Kestrel hovering

Perched Kestrel

The weather had other ideas, however. Just as I was nearing the main owl sight, the skies darkened & the heavens opened once more. Stopping for a quick scan along the valley, I had one Kestrel stoop on a vole only feet from where I was standing. In any other conditions it would have been a cracking full-frame shot, but the light levels were incredibly low. 

Close encounter of the Kestrel kind,  un-cropped. 

Just before sunset, a commotion amongst a large mixed flock of corvids (mainly Rooks) had me frantically scanning the skyline to see what had put them up. I got very excited when I spotted what appeared to be a wild Goshawk hunting along the ridge, wheeling & swooping upon a flock of  Field Fares. 'Fantastic', I thought, pulse rate rocketing! However, just as I was getting lined up for a shot or ten, I spotted the falconer who was flying the bird - so not a wild sighting after all!


 Heading home, I was surprised to see another 6 hares had appeared in a neighbouring field - the population is obviously doing very well! I also passed a group of 3 Roe Deer lying down among the dead grass. The elusive owls may not have put in an appearance, but I'm certainly not going to complain.