We arrived to find two birders leaning against the fence, binoculars hanging limply at their sides. “Have there been any sightings of the shorties?” I inquired. They shook their heads, one telling us that he had been staking out the spot for four hours; the other attempted to soften the blow by pointing out a marsh harrier perched in a distant tree.
Short-eared owls, Asio flammeus, are a largely nomadic species. British birds breed primarily in the northern uplands, the Hebrides and Orkney, but are more widely distributed in winter. While some of the owls choose to remain in their breeding ranges, most travel south, overwintering on lowland grazing marshes and coastal grassland, where they are joined by Scandinavian and eastern European migrants.
Thorney Island is an established seasonal haunt: some owls pass through on autumn or spring passage, while others take up residence for several weeks or months between October and March. When more than one bird roosts and hunts in the same area, territorial skirmishes often break out, but after a while they seem to come to a timeshare agreement, hunting at different times and keeping to their own patch.
Though they are our most diurnal owl, shorties are largely crepuscular hunters, particularly in winter. As the low-slung sun burnished the dormant pasture and tawny-coloured reed beds, I spotted one silently skimming over a shrub thicket. In the fading light, its underparts and facial disc appeared pale, like a barn owl’s. The short feather-tufts that inspire its common name were laid flat, but it was easily distinguished by its long, broad wings, wedge-shaped tail, heavily streaked upperparts, and large yellow eyes, which looked as though they had been heavily outlined with smudgy kohl.
Flapping, gliding, hovering briefly, the owl quartered the open ground, stiff wingbeats giving its flight a buoyant, moth-like quality. As soon as it located a small mammal, it twisted its wings and plunged head-first into the long grass to capture its quarry.
As the shortie mantled over its prey, a kestrel stooped in. The owl flew up, attempting to fend off the smaller bird with its feet, but the agile kestrel snatched the vole from its talons.
