European Short Eared Owls Book?

[KentYeti]

Marc,

Many thanks for that. Very helpful.

I'll try and trace all those and come back to you where I can't get hold of them.

I'll start working on an outline structure of a book soon, so will know better what more information I will need then.

I'll also be building a "shoot list" of shots I will need. Like catching and eating prey, and then nesting sites and raising young, (will give that a lot of thought and take great care over it when the time comes), etc.

I am close to getting a photo of a prey catch. It happened close yesterday, but the owl was the other side of the road and all I could see was the top of it's head/face going up and down as it ate. So in that instance I assume it didn't swallow it whole as per a Barn Owl with a short tailed vole. It gave me the impression it was ripping it's prey apart.

Maybe another 100 hours there will get me a result! LOL!, I'm closing in on 250 hours already since last March.

Cheers,

Bryan

[Davy Crockett]

Just picked this from the BTO website, not much is there.

For More Information...
Books and Monographs:
Mikkola, H. 1983 Owls of Europe Poyser, Calton [598.71 MIK]

See Also:
All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Gough, G.A. et al. (1998) Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
Wikipedia entry
Wikipedia entry
State of the Nations Birds by Chris Mead
Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides.com
Find papers on Google Scholar
Find papers on Scirus
Good Luck

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by KentYeti

I am close to getting a photo of a prey catch. It happened close yesterday, but the owl was the other side of the road and all I could see was the top of it's head/face going up and down as it ate. So in that instance I assume it didn't swallow it whole as per a Barn Owl with a short tailed vole. It gave me the impression it was ripping it's prey apart.

Owls (all British species) broadly have two ways of dealing with prey. For small mammals upto about the size of a young brown rat, prey is swallowed whole. For larger mammals and medium to large birds prey is dismembered and occassionally plucked. Birds are usually eaten in two parts, the body and the head (which is sometimes left). So what you have seen is more closely linked to prey size rather than species of owl. Short eared owls do however tend to b a little more picky in comparison to the other species (with larger prey) and often pluck larger numbers of feather out of the prey and also remove the caecum (part of the large intestine used for plant material digestion). They also have annoying habits with how they feed on the prey. They often either eat it on the wing or take it to an area where you cant see them, so the photo might take some doing. I guess on the breeding grounds this photo is probably going to be more easy to get (easpecially if you know where the nest is).

[KentYeti]

More useful info, many thanks.

I've started taking notes on my SEO watching days as well as taking photos. At the very least they could give me an "Owls Watching" chapter!

And I'm watching more carefully when they seem to go down on a kill. I'm sure the "kills" I've seen must have been small mammals, and I've yet to see an SEO fly off with one. So I need to spend more time observing that part of proceedings. To see if they are actually kills, or whatever else the owl is doing. Like bringing up a pellet.

Cheers,

Bryan

[KentYeti]

An update.

I have moved forward quite a lot on the book I am now writing on Short-Eared Owls.

I have an outline structure showing all chapters needed and and outline of what needs to go into each chapter. I have actually written a few very small sections!

At present I am working through circa 750 photos I have taken of these superb Owls to evaluate them as to printing quality and use within the context of the book. And I am allocating them to the various chapters. But there is a long way to go with photos! No matter how much I love close up "fly by" photos they cannot form more than a small part of the book I plan.

It is around my photos that I am building the book.

I am doing very detailed observations myself, but it is totally unrealistic for me, with no ornithological etc background, to rely on just my studies! So I am slowly assembling the various papers written on the different aspects of the Owls. These will be used to allow me to write, in my own words, the various detailed sections. And I will be seeking copyright agreements wherever needed to be certain I do not break the law and/or utlise the hard work of others without proper credit being given.

The next critical stage is to observe and photograph these Owls as they move into the breeding and summer season.

Two WAB'ers have already very kindly offered to help me there if they can. But that is of course totally dependant on the Owls breeding on their patches. One here in the South, and one much further North. Hopefully one of those will get breeding Shorties this year, but any other pointers, (via PM only please), from WABers will help too.

I have an exchange of emails with the Licensing Officer at Natural England and a senior colleague of his that confirms my plans are within the law, and that of course will also be done with me putting the Owls interest first.

This is a quite long term project for me. In a new area. I have done something similar with a video production in the steam railway world, (East German Narrow Guage Steam Railways). That took me three years when I had to live, eat and breath the subject. Writing this book will be no different, except it will be harder!

So any further input from WAB'ers will of course be gratefully received!

Cheers,

Bryan

[mbaldw]

Fantastic news! If I can be of any assistance -- with papers, proofing, etc. -- give me a shout.

Cheers,
Marc.

[KentYeti]

Originally Posted by mbaldw

Fantastic news! If I can be of any assistance -- with papers, proofing, etc. -- give me a shout.

Cheers,
Marc.

Many thanks Marc. As I start work on individual chapters it is the papers on each aspect that will be the most vital ingredient. When I reach the detailed writing stage rest assured I will be wanting as many of those relevant papers as possible!

So far as help on other parts of the work on the book, I will need to establish the best way to focus this without ignoring offered skills from WAB'ers. Dogghound has already offered assistance and I do plan to accept that wherever it is possible.

Cheers,

Bryan