Short-eared Owl (#2)

We arrived at Trondheim airport at about 4 pm Norwegian time, and set off for our lodgings at Kongsvold Fjeldstue (Kongsvold Mountain Lodge), an historic hotel (more on it later).

We passed this owl on the way (a bit before the lodge), and stopped a bit further down the road. Amazingly, after flying after us, it stopped eventually in perfect view. We were able to open the van door, and thus I was able to get this image.

This echoed exactly the first afternoon (nearly four months ago) of a tour in Belgium, where we also had wonderful views of a Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus).

Edit: My ornithologist friend commented (by email): "I would guess that the Belgian short-ear is a male (looks smaller, rounder, paler) and that the Norwegian one is a female (looks larger, browner, less cute), but those are just guesses."