Short-eared Owl – feathers flying

Short-eared owls are medium sized owls: length 34-42cm, wingspan 90-105cm and weight 260-350g.

Who would have thought that a fabulous day of bird watching could get any better. But it did.  We were out for an early evening stroll on a pathway through some heather.

The air was still and the lighting was perfect as 2 Short-eared owls flew over the heather and met in a heated, feather flying territorial dispute.

It would have been perfect had they been 50 metres closer but we were in plain sight so that was never going to happen.  They were distracted enough for me to get a short sequence of pictures showing claws out – and you can make out some feathers flying – before the dispute was resolved and the interloper was sent on his way.