Short-eared Owl at Bartinney

I visited the popular Short-eared Owl site yesterday afternoon in perfect light.  I saw two of the three birds here along with Alan James, Bob Sharples and nearly 20 other birders!  The best time to visit is just after 2pm when they start hunting the fields.  You need to hunker down behind the hedge and use a bit of fieldcraft.  The owls were unperturbed by everyone there.  I waited until near sunset and got some nice views of these charismatic birds.

Short-eared Owl hunting down a flushed Skylark

Short-eared owl at last light, Bartinney Downs

Taken with D5, 500mm F4, 1.4x TC and cropped 50%