Short-eared Owl - tick

A few days ago I was having lunch at the cafe at Dunes Golf Centre in Fraserburgh with Jill and Mary.  (I don't know a thing about golf but I am told it is the place to get equipment, go on the driving range , mess about in the state of the art golf simulator and get professional tuition.  I do know about cafes and can say it is the best in Fraserburgh.  There advert over.)
For some reason or other the discussion got on to my quest for 200 birds in 2017.  The waitress Marilyn joined in and said that there was an owl that regularly hunted in the fields at the back of her house.  She took my phone number and said she would let me know when it next arrived.

Tonight in the middle of tea I got the phone call.  Meat, veg and Yorkshire pud were abandoned and I went to Cairnbulg to see the owl for myself.  My first sight of it flying from its post, it must have seen me before I saw it.

It then flew around the field.  It lives quite close to housing.....

...before finding a post a bit further away from which to watch me.

Finally it had seen enough and went to the far side of the partially demolished farm steadings

So thanks go the Marilyn for the phone call.  The Short-eared Owl is number 169 on my year list.  Quite a special number because the was my total for the whole of 2016.

Total on list 169