Short eared Owl at Brandon Marsh

Short eared Owl, Brandon Marsh N.R. Warks.

Short eared Owl

Short eared Owl

Friday 26th November 2010

At the fourth attempt, Short eared Owl (181) is finally in the bag. A significant bird as it takes the County year list into unchartered territory. The previous best effort being 180. The day began at the big shopping place just off the A5 at Tamworth but I quickly relocated to Middleton Hall to spend a couple of hours checking over the bunds at the Dosthill Ski centre. They were busy planting trees around the place to make it more 'environmentally friendly'. Anyway I didnt bother them and they didnt bother me. There were small groups of finches, pipits and Reed Buntings in the thistles but nothing out of the ordinary. A Yellow legged Gull was on the more northerly of the Fisher's Mill pools but that was about it.

After collecting the happy shopper and grabbing a bite at home it was back to Brandon Marsh Nature reserve for another crack at the Short eared Owl which has been there for over a week. The secret was trying to predict which area it would favour today. I took up station on the track overlooking the Newlands reedbed. Just after 2 o'clock something whitish appeared amongst the bushes. My first reaction was Barn Owl but with better views it was clear it was the Short eared Owl I had been looking for.