Tuesday 29 December 2015

Short-eared Owl - Lower Test, Hampshire - 21st December 2015

After some frantic blogging of late trying to get on top of my Australia, Fiji and New Caledonia trip this will be the last post of the year so happy New Year to anyone who reads this post and have a great 2016.

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