Christmas Barn Owl

It has been another terrible week of weather with relentless rain and wind. Currently on Boxing Day Lancashire is suffering flooding and the villages of Whalley and Ribchester have been evacuated.It has been the wettest winter on record and the endless weather systems have battered Lancashire and Cumbria.

 Just before Christmas Eve the weather relented briefly and we enjoyed a day of blue skies,little wind and it stayed dry.I took advantage and returned to Lytham Moss hoping for a sighting of the short eared owls  or barn owls that were known to be around.

I met up with Cal a photographer from Blackburn who I had met on a previous visit.Around 2.30pm we spotted a barn owl on the far side of the Moss and we hot footed it round to where the owl was hunting.For the next hour or so we were treated to some wonderful views of this special bird and we enjoyed ourselves filling the memory cards with images.

I have shown below some of my better efforts from the session and you can be sure that I will return if ever this terrible weather goes away.I had been on the trail of a barn owl for many weeks and at last my persistence had paid off.It was a lovely way to begin Christmas and an early present for me.Thanks for looking in and enjoy the rest of the festivities.Normal service will hopefully be resumed early next year.Best wishes for 2016.