Cloud Covered Heath

Low cloud and rain stopped the show of Short Eared Owls on the west Cornish heathland for most of the afternoon yesterday

At 3 PM the low clouds gave way to sunshine and I was treated to a close Take-off sequence from a bird that had been hunkered down out of sight in a large tuft of rough grass,

It then recommenced its hunting activities while hovering on a stiff westerly wind and quickly took another vole for its efforts as it went back to hiding in the rough grasses to consume it.

At 3.45 the clouds more low clouds came racing back in and the hunting grounds were lost in the mist once again !    But the Owl had his Vole and I had a few more Shortie shots in my memory card.

Early Birds !

I was out and about well before dawn this morning and spent the first hour of my day looking for early Short Eared Owls.

I saw two between a beautiful dawn and a wispy cloud sunrise but the real jewel in the crown on this lovely crisp morning was a hunting Barn Owl at the same location.

Exposure can be difficult during early mornings so I fired away on Auto ISO set up to a max of 6400 while trying to retain reasonably fast shutter speeds as this bird hunted in the rough grass fields all around me.

Lots of failed shots but I felt that the better images posted below captured the essence of the encounter in the dramatic early morning light.

The Barn Owl worked hard for its large Vole pray which it carried off in the direction of the rising sun and I headed back home for my breakfast delighted with the early encounters !

Looking down the Lens

Today's blog is of six shots taken as a bold Short Eared Owl flies directly towards the camera while hunting and to finish a sequence of three take-off shots merged into a montage as the same Owl eventually departs.

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

Back Lighting Owls

On good sunny days wildlife photographers usually work hard to get the sun behind them to give their subjects the benefit of full sunshine without harsh shadows but given a situation where the sun or subject position demands otherwise can often come up with some striking images.

While working with Short eared Owls in bright sunlight yesterday I often found myself in the above situation and some of my result are posted below.

My next Blog will be on hunting Shorties and it will be posted later today !

Short-eared owls, Bartinney Down Cornwall

December 2016 has been a good month for Short-eared Owl photography on Bartinney Down near St Just, Two of these amazingly photogenic birds have moved onto the down and are currently involved in daily territorial disputes both with each other and a resident pair of Kestrel

Owl take-off montage

Aerial territorial dispute

Short -eared Owl portrait