We were also chuffed to see so many short eared owls after really going out of our way to find some all winter. We had some amazing days watching 2 adults and a young one hunting around one area high in the hills. The youngster was hiding in the long grasses and making a skshhing noise and at one point just flew out suddenly surprising the socks off us.
One day we spotted a lone shorty and pulled over as it landed right in front of us on the road side.
I love these owls- the have peirot type eyes and in flight can look sort of fruit bat-ish (think it is the way the wings are shaped and so little tail)
Also saw zillions of very noisy buzzards - always lovely to see buzzards! Here's a photo of a buzzard too partly in celebration of the recent U turn of plans for DEFRA to research culling them!!! Phew!
