I finally managed to get out to the island yesterday after being unable to due to the wind last week. It was a very chilly start but the water was dead calm with not a breath of wind – perfect. Heading past the island on the boat we could see a short eared owl hunting over the sea wall, a Marsh Harrier in the distance and a kestrel sitting atop a post. As soon as we were off the boat and started walking another Short eared owl showed up in front of us and happily sat on a post watching us. Unfortunately all I got was a very very bad and grainy shot with my phone as I forgot to pack my camera! I also got an excellent view of the Barn owl flying off over the lagoon.
Short eared owl
Top counts on the lagoons were 130 wigeon, 83 shoveled, 23 pintail, 360 teal, 210 cormorant, 2 spoonbill, 140 avocet, 19 oyster catcher, 36 grey plover, 132 black tailed godwit, 11 knot, 2 ruff, 410 dunlin, 270 redshank, total of 3 short eared owls (possibly up to 5 but cant be certain) 1 barn owl and lots of Rock Pipits. What a list and that’s not everything! Hares were also out braving the cold warming up in a sunny spot in the gorse.
The weather is looking great for our Saturday trip with no wind again so perfect for owl spotting. If you want to see if you can get a better photo of the short eared owl than me – which won’t be hard come along on one of our trips. We still have spaces available for this Saturday 3rd and also 7th January. Just make sure you wrap up warm and bring a flask.