After Good Friday’s fulmars, I headed to Sheepcote Valley on Easter Monday in search of the short-eared owls. It took me a while to find them, but I eventually spotted one, and then another. This is a small selection of shots.

Short-eared owl ruffling its feathers

Short-eared owl in flight

Coming straight at you!

Now three similar shots but with different colour variants. Seriously, I work hard to vary the background colour by changing my position (it’s difficult to get an owl to pose).

Short-eared owl perching at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

Short-eared owl perching at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

Short-eared owl perching at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens.

These are more of the images I took of the short-eared owls on Friday morning.Short-eared owls hunt over grassland, but stay near to wooded areas. This sequence gives an idea of the general habitat.

Short-eared owl at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

Short-eared owl at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

Short-eared owl at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

Short-eared owl at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

Short-eared owl at Sheepcote Valley, Brighton

I’m not always as lucky as this. I spent about 2 hours at Sheepcote this afternoon and saw nothing but sheep! Here’s hoping we have some bright early mornings in the coming week.

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens.