Kestrel Verses Short-eared Owl

A female Kestrel was out hunting over rough grass on the Cornish high ground when she spotted a Short-eared Owl take prey,

The Kestrel immediately turned and dropped down to attack the owl to steal the prey but the ever alert Owl saw it coming, dropped the Vole and rose up from the rough grass to defend her prey,

The Kestrel slammed into the Owl head to head with talons raised and its flight momentum balled the Owl over and both birds ended up in a flurry on the ground.

The Owl quickly departed minus its prey and a few feathers,  The Kestrel spent time looking but could not find the Vole so this time it was   Owl...0,     Kestrel...0,   and perhaps Field Vole..... Won !

What a privilege it was to watch and capture this struggle for survival by two of the UK's wildlife icons !

Kestrel takes the Prize

A female Kestrel sets her sights on an in-flight Short-eared Owl and goes straight on the attack giving the Owl little time to take avoiding action and this time the Kestrel wins the day and comes away with the prey.

Watching a wise old Owl control its Territory

Perhaps not the best of days for photography again yesterday but I spent more time studying the behaviour of a large wise old owl protecting its patch from other Short-eared Owls.

In the event of another Owl encroaching on its patch this Owl always flew highest into the sky before challenging any rivals which always gave it the advantage and when it went on a downward attack it was fast and took no prisoners with its talons directed at the head and body of its rival.

Following one such successful sortie our bird returned to one of its known favoured perch posts to rest up for a while and even its post selection was well thought out as of all the dozens of posts in the rough grass fields just a few that it always selected had high surrounding brambles and vegetation several feet higher that the posts.

 This provided the Owl with protection from rear attacks and the brambles blended in with the camouflaged birds plumage from the foreground to the extent that if you did not see the bird fly in you just would not know it was there.

This fine bird was as always aware of my presence but didn't consider me a threat and I was able to watch it relaxing and preening from a static position for over and hour and eventually it sat and watched me retreat from the territory as the evening light receded.

As I returned to my car two other photographers asked me what I had been waiting for in the hedgerow for so long as even with their telephoto lenses they had not picked up on this very clever birds presence 

Hunting Break

It is a joy to watch the Short-eared Owls hunting on the high ground of West Cornwall and this year their hunt timing has stretched from dawn to dusk.

It has also been good to watch the Owls relaxing in their stand down times which like in this particular study can last for an hour or more when preening and wing stretching and talon cleaning become the order of the day

Still ever watchful for voles on the ground and bird attacks from above the birds eventually launch themselves gracefully back into the sky to resume hunting again.

Sitting Pretty

The Short-eared Owls on the high ground seemed to spend as much time sitting in the rough grass fields as they did hunting PM yesterday:  so if you cant beat them join them was my motto and I settled down to record a few 'Sitting Pretty'  images.

And a final lift-off as the owl gets back to the business of hunting !

Hen Harrier Sighting.
I saw this bird in a distant aerial dispute with a Short-eared Owl who was the aggressor but it was not until it passed on overhead to hunt through thick Heather and Gorse heath that what I had first thought to be a buzzard turned out to be this female Hen Harrier

Backlighting: Short-eared Owls

With a patchy sky that varied through the afternoon from clear through partial cloud to blanket cover the light levels varied continuously due to a brisk easterly wind.

Working in rough grass fields I selected a section of stone wall where I faced west to capture images of Short-eared Owls hunting into the wind,

 The light variation dramatically effected the images and I liked what I saw when the birds long flight feathers were highlighted while leaving the head and the body unaffected and look at the size of the owls shadow created on the gossamer covered grasses in the image below.

By the time these images were taken the light levels were reduced as the sun sun descended towards a cloudy horizion  I was beginning to feel the wintry bit of that cold easterly wind so it was time to head on home to a nice log fire and a glass of something warming

Negative Hunt

Just One close pass from one hunting Short-eared Owl PM  yesterday,  The brisk easterly wind seems to have upset there recent hunting patterns and locations and this one was a negative with no Voles taken.