Feather Dusters

Long-eared Owl sitting in vegetation

Short-eared Owl on the ground

Saturday 22^nd October comments: There has been an invasion! Following the arrival of huge numbers of birds mid-week, yesterday saw the arrival of lots of owls! These majestic migrants arrived in noteworthy numbers as by the end of the day we had counted 18 Long-eared and 12 Short-eared Owls. The bird ringers on the island ringed six Long-eareds showing the movement through the Isle. With plenty of mice and birds on the Isle of May, these feather dusters will not go hungry!

These counts are significant for the island (18 Long-eared Owls is the second highest count for the island) but why are they here and from where? Most of the owls we are seeing on here are migrating from Scandinavia, escaping the harsh winter months as they move west to overwinter in the milder UK. Long-eared Owls are also irruptive with numbers increasing in some years due to good breeding seasons or food shortages in the far north. These cyclical events are noticeable on migration stations like the Isle of May.

It’s certainly impressive to see so many on the island and hopefully they’ll feed up on our mice and continue west. The wonders of migration in front of our very eyes, it’ll never disappoint.