The short-eared owl, Asio flammeus, is found in good numbers on all of the world’s continents except Antarctica and Australia.

It is a winter visitor to the Isle of Wight, usually arriving in September from Scandinavia, Russia or Iceland and departing by March, although the odd pair have occasionally been known to stay here and breed.

Unusually for owls they will hunt in daylight, especially early morning and late afternoon and can be seen flying low to the ground on downland such as Bembridge or Ventnor Downs, Brading and Yarmouth marshes and the farmland areas along the Military Road - in fact anywhere their principal quarry, voles, can be found.

It is a medium sized bird with brownish-yellow plumage overall but paler on the under body.

The ‘ears’ are just tufts of feathers that poke up from the side of the head giving the illusion of erect ears, but they are not always visible.

Owls are remarkable birds with a number of unique features especially in relation to their eyes; they don’t have eyeballs as such but have rod shaped eye tubes that are elongated, but fixed, looking straight ahead and held in place by a bony structure in their skulls.

To follow its prey the owl can move it’s head 135 degrees left or right (a total of 270 degrees) and 90 degrees up and down.

Like humans they have 3D or binocular vision so they can see something with both eyes at the same time.

They also have a third eyelid that closes horizontally from the inside corner to protect the eye from dirt when diving on prey close to the ground.

Their ears are not the same size so sound comes at different times; when it is equally loud in both ears it knows it has zeroed in on the source and distance thus helping to pin-point where it comes from.

Their feet have two toes pointing forward and two backwards giving a better grip and they also lock, so relieving muscle strain. Maximum grip with minimum effort.

In addition to all this they have quite long, broad wings which means they can glide for short distances thus reducing the need to flap and avoiding noise, they are also very agile on the wing.

Their feathers are designed to reduce friction enabling the bird to manoeuvre silently.

The short-eared owl is truly a consummate killer.