Short eared owls in daylight

[Naturenutz]

We have an area near me where short eared owls have wintered for many years.However they are not seen until near Darkness this year,where as previous years they have been seen early afternoon and quite often in full sun.Any ideas as to why this maybe ?
cheers
vic

[Wild-Woman]

Well I should think it's linked to when the food is available. Perhaps the small rodents are becoming more active during the dark hours leading into spring.

[Dogghound]

They are very diurnal compared to other owls. I regularly see them during the day. Especially considering the winter we have had this will have resulted in them having to hunt longer to get food. Often when small mammal numbers are low hunting is required over longer time periods.