Long-eared Owl hunting - Geilo, Norway

My wife and I were extremely lucky to see this Long-eared Owl coursing a grassy field in Geilo this summer. I was indoors when my wife spotted it. I bolted out and managed to get some footage in evening light (9:20 pm, June 30, 2015) at distances of 75-200 meters. My first thought was Short-eared Owl, which is by far the commonest species seen hunting over open ground in daylight. However, a closer look at the video footage revealed this as Long-eared Owl (Asio Otus; Hornugle). The two species are difficult to separate in flight as they have similar plumage, flight pattern, and the ears don’t show. Some of the separating features: 1) Long-eared has 4-5 neat black bands on the wing-tip, whereas short-eared has a black wing-tip and 2-3 course bars. Both species have a dark, comma-shaped carpal patch. 2) Dark breast streaks extend onto belly of Long-eared, 3) Short-eared shows a white trailing edge along the wing-arm, which is lacking in Long-eared. 4) The tail is finely barred on Long-eared, boldly barred on Short-eared. 5) The upper wing-arm of Short-eared is more patterned and white-blotched. 6) Eye color and facial markings are distinctive but hard to tell at long-range. Short-eared has yellow-eyes framed by dark angular patches (“mascara”), Long-eared has dark orange eyes. 6) Short-eared has somewhat more tapered, stiffer wings (“moth-like flight”) with wings often held slightly raised while gliding; Long-eared has a looser, floppier flight, glides on slightly down-bowed wings and appears wider-handed.
The slo-mo sequence shows a series of fine black bars on the outer wing above and below and the lack of black wing-tips. The breast streaks extend onto the belly (1:39) and the upper wing-arm is uniformly colored (not patterned and white-blotched). There is also no trailing or leading white-edge on the wing feathers, though at some angles light shining through the edge of the wing can suggest this. A dark vertical facial line crossing the eye can be seen at 2:03-2:06. These features indicate Long-eared Owl.
The owl was lost from view shortly after being mobbed by a crow. I watched the fields for some time with no sign of it. Turning to explore elsewhere, the owl swooped right past me, flying low to the ground along the gravel road about 100 meters before veering off into the woods. Quite likely this was a dusk hunt to feed the youngsters. On a previous visit to this location (2009), I came upon two juvenile Long-eared Owls in the woods. The habitat with dense groves of mixed forest flanking farmland and upland meadows is just right. Geilo is located in western Buskerud County adjacent Hallingskarvet mountain (opening shot) and Hardangervidda mountain plateau.
Playlists:
Birds of Norway: cutt.ly/KrtfBGp
Birds of Europe (western Palearctic): cutt.ly/9rtfLxd
Bird Song: cutt.ly/ErtfDea
Birding Visions World: cutt.ly/krrNSAl
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[@violina48]

Very nice shots!

[@CliveBramham]

***** Thanks for watching! More to come....spent a lot of time shooting video around Geilo last week. Cheers, Clive

[@trucha1618xx]

Nice capture Clive, congratulations

[@JulchensWelt]

Like - many thanks - thumbs up! Warm greetings Petra

[@shadowrslayer]

AMAZING slow mo!

[@CliveBramham]

It was special to see. i concentrated on getting the footage, not knowing when this moment would be gone.

[@shadowrslayer]

@@CliveBramham moments like these stay in your mind forever

[@randychaparral2124]

not easy to pull off on any level
devine

[@woranittanawatvorapat8317]

clive! I can not see your vedio 3 month.

[@CliveBramham]

+Woranit Tanawatvorapat Hi - Sorry to hear that and thanks for letting me know. Do you mean the Owl video is working? I tried it just now and it plays here. Cheers, Clive

[@carlobrigante4764]

Short eared owl

[@plutonia00]

Wrong, its a Long-eared Owl

[@jamiegrieve5875]

@@plutonia00 is it definitely a long eared owl because it looks like a short eared owl

[@vadimpm1290]

@@jamiegrieve5875 in reality, they look very much alike, but, at the same time, they can be easely separated from each other, when the picture is good enough, as in this case.

[@vadimpm1290]

Wrong, it's a Long Eared Owl.

[@carlobrigante4764]

​@vadimpm1290 that's a shorty bro