Fabulous Flaming Fern Owl!

Lovely morning here in Essex. I got a great shot of a dunnock against the blue sky that was to be my Blip.

After a latish lunch I decided to take a walk at Lodge Farm. Quite soon after I had got out of the car I saw a couple in the distance coming towards me on the farm track. I trained my long lens on them waiting in case they had photogenic dogs. Before the dogs came into view a large bird of prey that I initially thought was a buzzard flapped low and lazily into the frame right in front of them. (See extras.)

When I met the people and their dogs I asked if they had seen the bird of prey. They hadn't! After they had gone I looked on my camera screen and realised that I had shot an owl. I carried on walking towards the farm house and the same owl flew up and I got the above pic. I also got one head on but it was soft. :(  My other pics were when it was well in the distance but I captured it catching and flying with a vole. What an exciting and exhilarating episode.

I thought it might be a tawny owl but having researched I think it is a short-eared owl. The fluffy ear-like tufts on these are often not visible but I have a pic of it sitting on the ground where I think I can see them. It's name Asio flammeus comes from its flame-like appearance. These birds were known to Gilbert White and John Clare as fern owls after the bracken dominated hillsides and woodland breaks where they used to be found.