Who doesn't love an owl?

Feeling envious of Jack’s encounter with the little owls that I’ve yet to see in the quarry opposite The Lodge, I thought I’d keep the owl theme going with a blog of my own – and make me feel a bit better about missing the little owls in the process…

I’m not having a lot of luck with great grey shrikes this winter. I’ve “dipped” two now in recent weeks, but the good thing about spending time staring at a scrubby field where there should be a great grey shrike is that that time can result in seeing other things.

I grew up in the Cambridgeshire Fens where barn owls are, well I won’t say common but they are not difficult to see and I used to see them several times a week year round. Moving to the west of Cambridgeshire means I see them far less often which is something I am quite sad about.

So, while staring across said field, I was delighted to see two barn owls sitting in a barn window nearby. You know the view, the one like this!

The perfect view of a barn owl - in a barn! (Dave Braddock rspb-images.com)

Not only that, a third was flying around and accompanied me as I drove away a bit later – very distracting when trying to drive.

Golden eyes
I was happy with that, but then another “open-ground” owl appeared – short -eared owl and three of them at that. They are superb in flight, but I was pleased when one pitched down on a clod of earth in a bare field, filling my telescope with its golden yellow eyes.

Short-eared owls hunt regularly by day, making February afternoons a great time to search (Mike Langman rspb-images.com)

The hat trick
Shrike forgiven for letting me down, I fancied making it an owl hat trick, so went to a site where the hardest of all UK owls to see, is know to roost…

Long-eared owls are difficult. Some species just are and unless you get a bit of help from fellow naturalists, and ideally some “gen”, you can go long periods without seeing them. These long-eared owls spend the day roosting in thick ivy covering some trees and you can safely view them from a distance.

Now I can’t say the views were stunning (certainly nothing like the above image), but a couple of them turned their heads around periodically and stuck up their ear tufts meaning more of them came into view. They blend in brilliantly, using the thorn-like markings on their flanks to blend in well with hawthorns and other shrubs and trees. It is incredible how hard they can be to spot.

So, a hat trick of hat tricks of owls made for a great late winter afternoon. Now for those little owls...

If you’ve seen any owls this winter, we’d love to hear about it. Tawny owls will be in full voice now and our other four species will be getting frisky too. Please leave a comment below and let us know.