First owls of the season

The owl season began in style this afternoon. I don't know how many Short-eared Owls were flying, but at times there was frantic action all over the field, and I came home with several hundred photos. In the end I gave up shooting because I was so cold (despite the fact that I was wearing multiple thermal layers) that I couldn't stop shaking, and there were lumps of pain where my feet should have been. I tottered back to the car - literally - and on reaching the lane spotted Hillyblips, who'd just arrived. I didn't stop for a chat, because she needed to get some photos and I needed coffee and a heated car seat, but I'm sure we'll find time for a catch-up before too long.

I'm not convinced that these are my best shots of the day, but they're certainly among them. The first extra has beautiful autumn colour, but the owl was just a little further away than I like. The second extra really pleases me, despite lack of context and the owl's head being turned slightly too far to its left, and it may yet turn out to be my favourite photo of the day. If that happens I'll move it into headline position and relegate the current main image, which has a lot going for it, but somehow feels like the compromise candidate. The best eye contact of the day has just gone up on my Instagram if you'd like to see it.