Last week we discovered we were on the doorstep of one of Dorset's worst kept secrets in the bird world. We found out that just up the road was a fantastic piece of rough grassland that Short-eared owls frequent. We only found out about it from one of Megan's friends, who literally has this fine piece of unimproved grassland at the end of their garden, posting some cracking Short-eared owl pics online.
On Tuesday we had to try to find the shorties, heading straight out after work to the area we thought might be the owls hunting ground. As we neared the suspected area, we turned a corner to see a mass of cars, thrown onto verges on either side of the road. I had been told this was a popular venue, particularly with nature photographers, and they weren't wrong. It was like turning up to a Canon camera marketing event; lots of blokes with camera set ups costing more than most family hatchbacks. But anyhoo we didnt have to wait long to see our first Shortie. Shortly after getting out of the car we spotted two quartering the long grass hunting for small mammals.
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| Short-eared owl |
I'd normally be ecstatic at such a sight - don't get me wrong it was incredibly amazing to get such great views but having found them so quickly, not even a stones throw out of the car (could have watched them from the windscreen infact) sort of took a bit of the fun out of it. Perhaps some of the fun of nature watching is having to work for it?
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| Short-eared owl |
We stayed and watched in awe for a hour or so as the Short-eared owls hunted in grassland on both sides of the road, which cut their hunting grounds in half. Just before dusk a male Hen harrier past on through at a fair height and not hanging about. Most likely heading in to roost somewhere near by.
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| Male Hen harrier |
Living so close to such a nature spectacle we had to head back the next night after work. The owls didn't put on such a show being very flightly, doing laps of the field boundaries. We did see another Hen harrier, a female this time, which was quite a delight. On the journey home we also saw a Barn owl.
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| Barn owl |
The week has left me wandering what other amazing wildlife is on the doorstep perhaps you should ask yourself the same question....?
