On 21st December I stopped off at a rough grassy field at the junction of Gover Road and Test Lane in Totton, Hampshire where up to two Short-eared Owl have been present since 21st November. I arrived at 11:00 and within minutes one bird appeared and showed well as it patrolled up and down over the grassland. The winter has been a great one for Short-eared Owl with a significant invasion having occurred. In the north of its population the Short-eared Owl is strongly migratory and many of the birds that occur in the UK in the winter originated from Scandinavia and northern Russia. Influxes are linked to years of high owl breeding productivity when populations of microtine rodents are high, many of the birds that reach our shores being young birds.
Short-eared Owl - Gover Road, Totton
