Finally had the opportunity and time to visit Bempton Cliffs over the Festive break and possibility to find Short Eared Owls, aka Shorties.
After completing a reckie on Christmas Eve in extremely windy conditions and receiving some great information from the local RSPB worker I was ready as I could be.
Boxing Day arrived and thankfully the weather had completely changed, sunny and not too much wind, great conditions for seeing Shorties.
After a visit to see my brother and his wife, we called in at Bempton for a couple of hours, it was so worth it.
Was able to witness a small number of different Shorties, with two in particular providing that Top Gun moment as they battled for supremacy in the skies. Marvellous to witness their pirouettes in mid air, the diving, twisting and chasing of each other.
Watching these birds fly above the long grass and hovver above potential prey, you can understand why heavy winds really impacts on them.
Looking forward to seeing these again in the near future, watch this space.