Looking for owls

MarkE

MarkE

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Mark
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Hi all,

I've seen quite a few stunning owl photos (barn, short-eared etc) from a number of photographers recently, and it's something I'd love to see for myself. Which got me thinking, does anyone have any tips for the type of habitats where you might find them? Other than knowing the short-eared tend to hunt more in daylight and that barn owls are only going to be around into twilight and dusk, I'm not really sure what else to be on the lookout for.

Just to be clear, I'm not asking for specific sites or locations - that sort of information is the result of time, effort and fieldwork spent on the ground. What I'm more interested in is the sort of areas I should be thinking about looking at, then I can start to concentrate my fieldwork on those places.

Cheers all,
Mark
 
A decent bird book should assist you.
 
Rough ground [meadows, scrubby fields] which has been there a while [i.e. not ploughed up every year] will support prey items for Barn Owls as it does for shorties. I think I've read that Barn Owls don't like the over growth to be too tall - so if a meadow has got to the point where its getting overgrown with 4ft saplings look elsewhere?
 
Set aside is a good place to start, I'd have a guess that the barn owls that were on days are probably back on nights now, you maybe lucky though..!
 
MarkE said:
barn owls are only going to be around into twilight and dusk, I'm not really sure what else to be on the lookout for.
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Our local Barnie was out hunting at two in the afternoon today. I think she knew that the weather was going to be pants later on.
 
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