Owl and Kestrel

January 23rd, 2016

A short-eared owl was hunting and dived down to catch a vole, as soon as it took off a kestrel swooped in and stole it from the owl. The owl did try to take back the vole by attacking the kestrel on the ground, but the kestrel hung on to it. I have seen this happen before with a kestrel and barn owl but on that occasion was so surprised that I missed the shot. It’s rare moments like this that makes all the waiting around in the cold worth while.