TJ Hughes Photographer: Shortaaays!

Now the weather has been getting better we have been in search for Short Eared Owls! They hunt and are more active in low wind levels, and when it's dry. On an early morning shoot at about 5:30the weather was very windy and wet to start with, but as soon as it cleared we spotted up to 7 or 8 in a couple of hours. Due to the past couple of days being very wet and up to 30 mph wind they must have been waiting for any opportunity to hunt for food.

A Red Deer spotted just after sunrise

We were lucky enough to spot a Snowy Owl taking shelter from the wind in the fields. The Snowy Owl is the rarest bird in the UK and is an occasional Winter Visitor to British Isles as it nests in the Arctic tundra of the northermost stretches of Alaska, Canada, and Eurasia. I took this shot with a 600mm and 1.4 tele-converter and then cropped to 100% as we didn't want to get too close.