Shingle Street, Suffolk
Early September 2004
In the winter of 2002-03, Shingle Street on the Suffolk coast hosted up to 10 Short-eared Owls (see Bill Baston's site for some great shots of these birds). Last winter was a bit of a disappointment, with only one bird present for a few days in autumn.
After seeing a newly arrived Short-eared at Sandwich Bay last week, I decided to check out Shingle Street to see if any Owls had returned there.
It initially looked a bad decision, with no sign of any Owls or any other birds for that matter! However, at about 6:15 a Short-eared Owl appeared, followed by a second and eventually a third! The birds showed fairly well for about half an hour, hunting over some rough fields, but only occasionally coming as close as I'd like! A few decent photos managed, the top one on the right being the pick of the bunch >
Hopefully the birds will hang around for the winter.
> Update - they didn't really hang around for the winter. One bird has been seen occasionally, not much use! So off to Welney.....
Right > a Short-eared Owl aims its talons at some prey. In this case, the bird was sucessful, and remained on the ground for some time.
Right > an Owl drops onto another hapless rodent |
