News from Mike Russell in Sussex:
"Down here in Sussex, as probably many other places in the south, we have been enjoying a short-eared owl invasion. Many people have been out and about and seeing these wonderful birds at very close quarters. A good thing about short-eared owls is that they fly in daylight, particularly from mid-afternoon onwards and the likelihood is that they could stay much of the winter, assuming this hard weather doesn't cause them too many problems.
We do get visited by short-eared owls most winters but varies considerably in numbers, sometimes they are very scarce. They breed in the northern uplands of Britain and tend to move south after breeding where finding their food, mainly voles and mice is a little easier. How many we get depends on how successful their breeding season has been and how much food is available. This year has been a bumper year for voles so their predators such as short-eared owls, barn owls and kestrels have all done well. Birds from the continent also cross the channel to take advantage of the plentiful food source that is around this year.
At the Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve at Waltham Brooks, just south of Amberley up to 6 at a time have been observed, sometimes 3 sparring together where their feeding territories overlap, spiralling up into the sky in a not particularly aggressive way. They even made the local news encouraging even more people to go and see them and the item can be seen on the Trust website."
"Down here in Sussex, as probably many other places in the south, we have been enjoying a short-eared owl invasion. Many people have been out and about and seeing these wonderful birds at very close quarters. A good thing about short-eared owls is that they fly in daylight, particularly from mid-afternoon onwards and the likelihood is that they could stay much of the winter, assuming this hard weather doesn't cause them too many problems.
We do get visited by short-eared owls most winters but varies considerably in numbers, sometimes they are very scarce. They breed in the northern uplands of Britain and tend to move south after breeding where finding their food, mainly voles and mice is a little easier. How many we get depends on how successful their breeding season has been and how much food is available. This year has been a bumper year for voles so their predators such as short-eared owls, barn owls and kestrels have all done well. Birds from the continent also cross the channel to take advantage of the plentiful food source that is around this year.
At the Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve at Waltham Brooks, just south of Amberley up to 6 at a time have been observed, sometimes 3 sparring together where their feeding territories overlap, spiralling up into the sky in a not particularly aggressive way. They even made the local news encouraging even more people to go and see them and the item can be seen on the Trust website."
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