Short Eared Owl Stars

We have had another week on Islay. Some time has been spent trying to film a male Short Eared Owl as he brought prey to a brooding female, her nest being deep in the heather. The photo was taken through the video camera and was the only one I took, although I did obtain some spectacular film. Some days he did not alight on the post at all and then one day he brought four items in two hours alighting on the post each time. Nothing is predictable in wildlife filming and this is the first time in forty years that I have succeeded in filming a male Short Eared Owl, with prey away from the nest.

Since we left Islay a month ago there has been a hundred mph gale which has had a devasting effect on all wildlife. The woodlands look like Autumn with the leaves dead and shrivelled and many on the ground as a result of salt spray damage. Coming at the height of the breeding season there will be no caterpillars for young birds to be fed on or butterflies to follow and no one knows what the long term effect of the gale will be.