Lady Fen Welney Sightings

A very enjoyable day at Welney yesterday in the company of RPS Nature group members and volunteers from Paxton Pits. The dull light all day did not lend itself to distant photography but I enjoyed the challenge of finding and capturing the variety of wildlife on Lady Fen in the fenland landscape. The first Short-eared Owl took us by surprise as it flew close and over the bank. Other views were more distant. In the afternoon Steve located a Hare in its 'form' - amazingly camouflaged - just the eye giving it away. Good to get some closer photography of the Tree and House sparrows and Stonechat. Three species of Egret (Cattle, Great and Little), two deer species (Roe and Chinese Water), Heron and Kestrel completed the roll call

Short-Eared Owls in the Frost

There were three Short-eared Owls at Welney on Wednesday - we saw them briefly in the morning quite close as they exited from their roost area. Later we enjoyed watching them quartering Lady Fen at a distance. but still unmistakable

RPS Visit to Wicken Fen

Unlike my usual luck when arranging Nature Outings for the RPS, the weather remained fine and warm on Sunday and the Short-Eared Owls behaved and appeared on cue on Burwell Fen. I missed the best shots of the day when one SEO camer very close as the Highland Cattle were between me and the owl!! We also enjoyed great view of Yellow Hammer, Stonechat and Reed Buntings who were displaying well.

Short-Eared Owls on Burwell Fen

We wondered what the Owls made of the unseasonably warm sunshine yesterday - they certainly weren't put off hunting on a beautiful golden evening. A Kestrel waited around hoping to steal any catch and a grumpy heron sat among the Konig ponies. 

Short-Eared Owls Hertfordshire

We decided to try a different location for Short-Eared Owls and drove over to Heartwood Forest near Welwyn, where we joined lots of other owl watchers including Ray. My favourites were the first two images, which are the last I took yesterday when the sun finally came through just before we headed home. The light at 3pm when we spied the first owls was not good and I really missed my 300mm 2.8 lens as working on the 7D and 100-400 mm resulted in very noisy images. However, I enjoyed the visit very much with lighter equipment and the photos are certainly good enough to remind me of the experience. Will take tripod next time!! Last image is of Rudolph the Red-nosed Owl!!