Long-eared owl casualty

This is one owl that sadly didn't make it to the end of summer. This long-eared owl was found under a hedge by a friend's son who has sharp eyes - top marks to him! The feathers are amazing, so soft and specially adapted for that incredible silent owl flight. And those colours and pattern providing them with excellent camouflage; you can see why they are so good at hiding.

Thanks to my friend Javier for his expert aging advice. Here is his page on long-eared owl aging. This is an adult bird and even though there is a clear difference in age of some of its feathers (S3-4), the feather pattern, the number of bars, is consistent. "When a juvenile bird is moulting these feathers the new adult ones are very different to that of the old juvenile ones."