Owls!

Over the winter months it's a good time for Short Eared Owls on the south coast. At a local site with at least 3 present I made multiple visits to try and get some pics. Mostly they have been very frustrating and either coming out late afternoon in grim light or coming out earlier in bright sunshine which at this location doesn't help to much either. Foxes are also fairly showy here as a local house owner feeds them most nights. 

Whilst waiting for owls one afternoon I heard this call. Initially I couldn't pin point what it was but knew I had heard similar before. I managed to pick it up in flight and it was rather large and when it dropped down into the rough grass there was only one thing it could be. A Richard's Pipit. Happy days!! Always nice to get a new self found bird and although not exactly rare it was still a buzz. I managed to get a few record pics before it flew west and landed in an inaccessible field.

Incredibly a couple of weeks later I went back and heard the bird again but this time I couldn't locate it. Grey partridge also showed well on one occasion, by far my best pics of this species to date.