Shorties at The Scrubs

 A Short-eared Owl tries to look cool in front of HM Wormwood Scrubs Prison

Today I had the pleasure of watching two Short-eared Owls at The Scrubs. They were both flushed from the grassland by crows.

 Shaking off a crow

Shorties are near annual visitors to The Scrubs appearing in both the spring and autumn. Usually they are flyovers although occasionally they are flushed from the ground but they never seem to stay longer than an hour.

 Crows in hot pursuit

These birds are part of the mini invasion that the country is currently experiencing. They may have been knocking about for the best part of three weeks because there have been sporadic reports of Shorties at The Scrubs during that time period by both birders and dog walkers.

Short-eared Owl in front of the prison (Paul Thomas)

They are always great birds to see. It's amazing to think that my little urban patch in west London can attract such an open country bird.