The Short-eared Owls Are Back

29th October 2018

The 2016/17 Winter was a bumper year for Short-eared Owls and probably the best place to see them in the south-east was Burwell Fen.  That year the stockman counted 20 birds as he drove across the fields checking on the Konik Ponies, and normally 4-5 birds could be seen in the air at once. Last winter was very poor with only 1-2 birds showing very occasionally and there was no evidence that any of the birds were resident. However, this Winter there are already a few birds showing fairly reliably so time for a visit.

As we drove down to the car park there were four Roe Deer feeding out in the open on one of the newly-sown fields. This was an opportunity to use the car as a metal hide, despite the sun coming from the side and no chance of changing position. So not ideal but a good start to the day.

At Burwell Fen they use a herd of 24 Konik Ponies and a number of cattle to graze the fields. Koniks are wild ponies from Poland, but the animals here are very docile, approachable and quite photogenic, ideal when you are waiting for the owls to appear.

Two Winters ago the owls could be seen flying from mid-day onwards, but more normally from 2pm in mid-Winter. However, this year they seem to be a lot later and when we were there didn't start flying until 3.30pm, just one hour before sunset. Therefore you have less time to get those all-important shots when the owls decide to give you a close fly-past. To make things worse, there were only 2-3 owls flying. Here are the results of my one hour late afternoon, the Golden Hour.

Well, quite pleased with that for my first visit this Winter, and I am sure I will be back for many more if they continue to perform as they did today.