Shortcomings?

Those of you that regularly read Letter from Norfolk will know I have found photographing Short eared Owls always a little difficult. An obliging individual has never presented itself.

If they landed on posts they didn’t stop long enough; if they did stop they were too far away. If they flew close it was too dark, if it wasn’t too dark they were practically in the next county.

We were on a birders tour last week when not one but four or five Short eared Owls were out on the marsh. They were close and the sun was low but bright. Ideal; but you do have to have your camera with you to get a photograph! Everyone who has a camera will know if you have it on you, you see nothing. If you don’t the entire British list of birds and mammals file passed as though they are entering the ark.

I decided to revisit the marsh a couple of days later. Waiting patiently for around three hours, Owls appeared and duly disappeared. I got some shots but not the one I wanted. It took a further two visits and secreting myself inside a rather thorny bush before I had a set that were half decent. The photograph below is one. That leads us on to the other trait held by anyone who has a camera  … they’re never satisfied with their own results.

The Owls will be disappearing for Northern territories soon so we won’t be able to see them on many more occasions until their return next autumn.

Short of the mark

Over the years one of the things I’ve never managed to capture is a decent photograph of a Short eared Owl; a case of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Last weekend I thought it was about time I made an effort to correct this. Down on the marshes around four Short eared’s have been showing regularly, but at distance.

I ensconced myself amid a hawthorn at the edge of the marsh and waited. It was cold but bright and the owls were performing but again at some distance. When I finally gave up the ghost it was quite disheartening to see the Owls hunting the area where I’d parked the Landrover. None the less tenacity has always borne fruit so I went back on a cloudier Sunday. Choosing a different bush I again waited… and waited. A Hen Harrier flew by and so did a couple of Cranes; even a few Whooper’s and Bewick’s put in an appearance. However there were more Barn Owls than Short eared hunting the marsh so I will have to wait for another day to get that gripping photo. In the meantime I have to be satisfied with distant shots.