Barn Owl #34

I'd been looking forward to the high tide at Parkgate all week, but the wind and pressure were not on our side today and it was the lowest high tide ever apparently. Instead of the water nearly reaching the wall, like it did yesterday, it was nowhere to be seen. So no scores of rodents running for their lives and being picked off by raptors. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations and I was a tad disappointed. . 
Afterwards we strolled along the parade and had a late lunch in The Ship pub and then walked back to the car hoping that the owls would show themselves, and they did not disappoint. 
Within a couple of minutes one of the short eared owls started hunting, soon to be joined by another one and a couple of distant marsh harriers. It was lovely to see even if they were a bit far away. Just as we were about to pack up I was lamenting the lack of barn owl activity and then one appeared :) So we stayed until the car park closed at 5pm and had a great time watching. It did not seem to be very successful at hunting as not once did we see it pick up a meal, but maybe it was just too fat from yesterday's meals that it was too slow - who knows? ;)
I have a ton of shots to go through and will probably delete over 95% of them, but here's a barn owl, a short eared owl and a nice kestrel we saw on the way to lunch. I hope you like them.