It was one of those great days, you act on a tip-off and end up bagging your quarry, something that has alluded you for a long time. In this case my last (and only) short-eared Owl sighting was near Wooler Northumberland close-on 47 years ago! I appreciate that ‘experienced birders’ may consider this no big deal but for me this observation was one of these wildlife magical moments.
A couple of years back I’d been told that Short-eared Owls could be seen at Farlington Marshes nr Portsmouth. So, I made my way there and returned often but whilst I saw plenty of other stuff, I never got a glimpse of a ‘Shortie’. I would often meet birders who were staking them out, waiting patiently for hours with their camera rigs trained over the marsh in the hope of a sighting but as far as I knew they never had any luck.
On one such trip I got talking to a young couple (birders) and they told me that I should go to Thorney Island “just down the road”. Checking out Thorney island on the internet I found it was owned by the Ministry of defence and that access was restricted to walking around the perimeter (so what chance of a sighting then?). Nevertheless, one day I decided to put the idea to bed and give it a go. Unfortunately, around that I’d developed knee trouble and the walking proved tough going around a perimeter sea wall and bumpy muddy track. In the end I was forced to call it a day and made my way back to the car parked at Thornham Marina. At around 150 yards from ‘home’ I glanced over into a farmer’s field and there it was, a Short-eared Owl, middle of the day, quartering the ground. I had my SLR with 150mm macro to hand and although less than ideal I didn’t dare try to get the Panasonic FZ75 with its 1200x zoom reach trained on it in case it may decide to move on. After snapping away for around 60+ shots I decided to give the FZ75 a go only for the Owl to then decide to leave. In the 2 minutes or so it had been there it had quartered and area of about 150 square yards and had dropped to the ground once (but without a kill).
In the UK the breeding population of short-eared Owls is in the North of England and Scotland. As far as I know the bird I saw is one that overwinters on the marshes. I’m sure there are suitable prey animals (I’ve seen kestrel take a small rat at Farlington) but perhaps there isn’t enough to sustain them to breed there?
Any comments on this sighting or on what I’ve said are welcome.