The Barn Owls are nesting, there’s a male that roosts on the rock face and the female is sat on eggs. This means that the male bus currently hunting for the female as well as himself, bringing back voles to the female a few times a day.
With this in mind I picked a spot above and behind the nest, well away but close enough to see the male as he flew back to the nest with his catch. At least that was the plan, after two hours of watching him hunt on the other far side of the quarry, failing light and lack of time meant I had to leave without the shot I was after. It was a lovely night and I didn’t much mind, there’s always another day, but to my surprise as I rounded the corner back to the car, out he shot, flying low and slow over a field set to grass.
He had given up on hunting the quarry cliff sides and moved to the field, luck meant I was in the right place at the right time. The sun was setting behind us but still bright on his face as he moved from bright light to dark shadows, trying to keep the cameras exposure right was a little tricky , but as he flew passed me at head height I managed to grab a few quick shots before heading home with a broad smile on my face.
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