The nomadic Short-eared Owl

Emma Chaplin
, 12 October 2021
The nomadic Short-eared Owl
Short Eared Owl © Peter Brooks

By Charlotte Owen

WildCall Officer

The short-eared owl migrates here from the snow and ice of Finland, Scandinavia and parts of Russia. Its nomadic nature sets it apart from our resident owls, who don’t wander far, and the ‘shorty’ bucks a few other owl trends too. As you might expect, it is a fearsome nocturnal predator but there is no respite for its small mammal prey as these birds will happily hunt in daylight too, timing their mid-afternoon flights to take advantage of the field vole rush hour. Between meals they will roost on the ground, hidden within a grassy tussock, and come spring when they have made the return journey to their northern breeding territories they will nest on the ground too, only taking to the trees when inconvenienced by heavy snowfall.

The ‘ears’ are actually short tufts of feathers that can be raised or lowered depending on the owl’s mood. Since they are often flattened against the bird’s head, disappearing into the dense facial plumage, it’s the eyes that are the most distinctive feature; a piercing yellow gaze accentuated by heavy black makeup that creates a severe and frowning face. It’s impossible to slip by a short-eared owl unnoticed but they will tolerate a careful observer as long as a respectful distance is maintained.

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Joanne burdett:

    We have a owl box in our garden how do I register it

    24 Jan 2024 08:09:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    We are not aware of a need to register an owl box

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783045737.86710 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783045737.89250.0255Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783045737.89270.0002Server address: 216.73.216.31
1783045737.89270Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783045737.89280Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/the-nomadic-short-eared-owl
    [s] => the-nomadic-short-eared-owl
    [1] => the-nomadic-short-eared-owl
)
1783045737.89310.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783045737.89430.0011 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783045737.89620.0019 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783045737.89670.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783045737.89830.0016 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22547620
1783045737.89880.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22547620
1783045737.89950.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-03 02:28:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-03 02:28:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783045737.90090.0014 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='the-nomadic-short-eared-owl')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 02:28:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783045737.90340.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783045737.90390.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2640 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 02:28:00'
1783045737.9050.001 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783045737.90580.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783045737.90660.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=181 LIMIT 1
1783045737.90720.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=45 LIMIT 1
1783045737.90770.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783045737.9080.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783045737.90890.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 02:28:00' AND postSlug='the-nomadic-short-eared-owl'
1783045737.93180.0229Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783045737.93240.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783045737.93410.0018Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783045737.93440.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783045737.93560.0011 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783045737.93730.0017 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783045737.9410.0037 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783045737.94160.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783045737.94620.0047Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783045737.94630.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783045737.94730.001 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783045737.94790.0006 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783045737.95910.0112 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783045737.960.0009 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783045737.96050.0005 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783045737.9630.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783045737.96610.0031 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783045737.96850.0025 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783045737.9690.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783045737.96930.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783045737.97010.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783045737.97040.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='the-nomadic-short-eared-owl')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 02:28:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783045737.97250.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783045737.97310.0006 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783045737.97680.0038Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783045737.9780.0012 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2640 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783045738.02730.0493 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783045738.0280.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783045738.02820.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783045738.02910.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783045738.02980.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783045738.03050.0007 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783045738.03260.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783045738.03310.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783045738.03490.0019 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783045738.03590.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783045738.03650.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783045738.0370.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783045738.03930.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783045738.03990.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783045738.04170.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783045738.04610.0044 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783045738.0470.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783045738.04750.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783045738.04970.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783045738.05020.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783045738.05210.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783045738.05560.0035 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783045738.05640.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783045738.0570.0006 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783045738.0590.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783045738.05960.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783045738.06120.0017 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783045738.06250.0012Request time: 0.199
1783045738.06250Process time: 0.1987
1783045738.06250Memory: 1.6221