Cattie-face
There’s been a Cattie-face (a Short-Eared Owl) hunting in Skelwick for months now. I see it often when I travel to the local shop, Peter Miller’s, for essentials, like Fattie Cutties or duck eggs. This time I’m near a field gate, so stop the car without danger of falling into a drainage ditch and get my camera off the passenger seat, where it’s been riding shotgun, teetering on the edge of setting off the ‘seatbelt not on’ alarm.
It’s hunting low over the docks in an empty pasture field.
I shelter from its gaze at the back of the car as it works the field, eager for an Orkney Vole. Then it heads towards me and passes just in front of the car. I’m grateful that it’s not rush-hour here, as a dozen cars would be heading for the ferry to the Mainland of Orkney then. It crosses the road without looking both ways and carries on its way out of sight.
Wow.
More Short-Eared Owls
“Owl!” We've been sitting in this bird hide for three hours. There's been nothing. A distant Curlew. A noisy Blackbird rushing… read more
An early morning I'm not usually out early in the morning. You might have noticed that my blog contains many, many sunset photographs… read more
Stumbling upon Short-Eared Owls I volunteer for a children's charity and we're having a meeting of our trustees in Oxfordshire. I check a map… read more
2021 highlights of a wilder Orkney life I had a wonderful time on Westray in Orkney in 2021. The Puffins returned to breed and provided constant entertainment… read more
The Short-Eared Owl makes another appearance We've toured the Island today and our final destination is the Ouse. There were reports of a Short Eared Owl… read more
The shock of an Owl I'm standing in the garden of Einar, against a stone wall, taking photographs of Swallows. They're great to practise on… read more
A wild Neolithic hat-trick It's time for me to catch the ferry away from Orkney for a short while. I have an evening to… read more