Tim writes: this is a Long-eared Owl carrying a Short-tailed Vole back to its hungry brood that were calling constantly from nearby trees. The male provisions the female while she incubates and when the young are small. But when the young are old enough to “branch” (leave the nest and clamber about in the branches), the female hunts too. All of my photographs of Long-eared Owls with prey show them carrying Short-tailed Voles, with not a Bank Vole or Wood Mouse among them. Long-eared Owls never build a nest themselves, but use an old Crow’s nest. I’m pretty sure that this inability (or reluctance?) to construct a nest is a trait of all owls.
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