An owl that comes out in the daytime is turning up on marshes and in lonely pastures where it would not be found in summer. This is the short-eared owl. It glides on its long wings close to the grass looking for voles and mice then swings round abruptly in the air and starts patrolling in a new direction. It is usually busiest towards dusk. It has the typical round and flat face of an owl, like the sawn-off end of a log, with yellow eyes that gleam out of black patches. Its “ears” are tiny tufts on its head that are quite hard to see. It nests on moors chiefly in Scotland and the North of England. Some of the birds that are now wintering in lowland country are these British breeders, others have come here across the North Sea. There is also a long-eared owl with conspicuous head-tufts that it can raise and lower, but it is a much more reclusive and rarely seen bird. Sometimes it can be chanced on in daytime sitting motionless on a branch close to a tree-trunk.