An Afternoon with the Short-eared Owls

17th January 2025

News was starting to emerge that Short-eared Owls were hunting over some set-a-side fields by Holwell Crematorium, and some locals said that they have been there since Christmas. It's not particularly surprising they were not discovered earlier as the field where they are hunting is by a dead-end road with no through traffic. So far up to three birds have been seen so time for a visit.

Fortunately it is possible to park past the crematorium and therefore not interfere with their proceedings and as 2pm approached, the time the owls normally start flying. more and more cars arrived but were all able to park sensibly in the laybys at the bottom and top of the hill. As it has been quite a while since Short-eared Owls have been present during the winter in Hertfordshire, many of the people arriving were local Herts birders and the afternoon was fast becoming a great social event, a re-union.

The good news was that the low cloud was dispersing to reveal a blue sky, so all we needed now was an owl or two. Unfortunately that didn't happen immediately and by the time the owls did decide to leave their roost it was cloudy again with poor light levels. However, time to make the most of it and try and grab some shots. The first approach was above the sky-line which makes focussing easier but can wash out the colours a little.

These were a bit better.

And now a couple with a vegetation backgound showing the beautiful colouration of these owls.

Then sit back and enjoy the flying display, just half an hour from your doorstep.

Well, just how good was that? Today there were four birds present as at one point three could be seen in the air at the same time to the north of the road with a single bird perched up on a post on the south side. There was one altercation between two birds but very short-lived and very close to the road making photography difficult. 

And then after all that action time for a rest to digest all those voles.

So what about the poor light? Well on this occasion it was a blessing in disguise. The reason is that the closest owls were on the south side of the road, and if the sun had been out you would have been shooting into the sun and not achieved the same results. So don't always be critical of the poor light, as sometimes it can act in your favour.