Watching the Hunt.

My Buddy Peter Tonkin takes a few minutes break from behind the lens yesterday just to watch a close encounter with one of the very photogenic Short eared Owls that grace the Cornish heathland during the winter months.

Below is my take of yesterdays Owls with low and slow flights captured during their graceful hunting behaviour in the rough grass fields

Early morning Cuckoo in flight.

One male Cuckoo in flight challenges another perched male for the territory but quickly applies the brakes and turns away as the perched male shows what he is made of.

Having won the day and seen off the competition the perched male casually flies against a strong wind towards the bright sunrise and drops down into the rough grass fields looking for breakfast

His prize for winning the territory is a bountiful supply of Juicy caterpillars !

Lunch break Over

This Short-eared Owl has been taking a snooze after consuming a large Vole in rough grass fields

Slowly waking it partakes in a little preening, wing stretching and a full body shake-out prior to taking-off.

On its graceful take-off flight it heads towards me casually checking me out before turning and heading off on another hunting mission back across the fields with its talons at the ready to perform another kill.

After Dinner Snooze

I was photographing this fine Short-eared Owl in flight yesterday when it suddenly did a fast U-turn having seen a vole in the rough grass quite close to me.

The Owl dived in with its wings held well back to avoid damage and the fact that it stayed down confirmed that it had captured the Vole in its lethal talons

The Owl worked its talons into the vole until it was dead before transferring it head first into its wide open mouth for a down in one swallow that was assisted by closing its eyes and pressing downwards with its eye socket muscles on the vole to aid forcing it on down the hatch.

With its short ears projecting the Shortie then balled up to take a twenty minute 'After Dinner Snooze' while digesting the luckless Vole

  

I carried on watching this Owl for a further thirty minutes or so and my next blog shows it waking ,preening and wing stretching prior to it taking-off and carrying on with another daytime hunt.

Short-eared Owl Study

We are blessed with a good influx of Short-eared Owls on the high grounds and rough grass fields of Cornwall at this time and what a magnificent wildlife spectacle they are to watch hunting during the late afternoon.

The five birds that I saw yesterday ranged in colour from quite pale through to one particular bird that I selected here on which the plumage was quite a dark brown.

This bird made three passes within ten to fifteen metres of my location in a very rough Cornish granite stone wall but such was its concentration on it eyes down hunting mode that it never sensed my presence.

On its forth pass however it raised its eyes having heard my shutter firing and turned its attention and flight direction towards me and in the last usable shot that I got the bird was just two metres off the ground and four metres in front of my camera before I finally felt the overhead thrust of it passing through the air.   AMAZING !!

Blog 4: Short-eared Owl Portraits

Short-eared Owls have been showing well on the high ground for several days now and I have been taking advantage both in the early mornings and evenings.

The more that you can work with any given bird the more you get to understand its habits, hunting behaviour and its tolerance if any to your presence.

With these Owls having fantastic sight and hearing you can't hide from them for very long before they visually pick up on your presence or hear your camera firing so testing and finding any particular birds acceptance distance over a few days is the way forward.

All of the portraits posted here have been taken around an hour before sunset when the light levels and direct sunlight enhances these very photogenic birds bringing out the amazing yellow eye and plumage details that can really make these shots pop out.

Blog 3: Perched Short-eared Owls

Most birds tend to be photographed on the ground and flight shots are a bit more of a challenge but with the Short eared Owl the opposite seems to be the case,

The birds will rarely hesitate to fly reasonably close to you when you are near their rough field hunting ground but will not land to take a rest or to consume prey without moving away to a more acceptable distance

Once landed their mottled plumage blends in well with their surroundings and you can easily pass by without seeing them at all.

Tracking a bird in flight is probably your best bet, Take note of its landing position and surrounding land marks before moving in with as long a lens as you have available to you so that your final distance to your subject is acceptable to them.