HEARING birds screeching in his back garden, a Poole resident grabbed his camera and went to investigate.

What Dave Porter of Lower Parkstone witnessed and recorded was some fascinating bird behaviour and a rare visitor to our gardens.

His remarkable photos show a short-eared owl being mobbed by magpies and crows and flying rings around its attackers before seeing them off.

“There was an awful row going on,” said Dave.

“I couldn’t make out what it was.”

He sat and watched and saw an unusual owl land in a tree in his back garden, pursued by magpies and crows.

“I took a few photos and it was staring straight at me,” he said.

“It took off; it didn’t stay that long. It was very agile.

“The crows and magpies were having a go at it and it was flying circles around them.”

With his Canon EOS 5D, Dave, a retired electrical engineer, delights in snapping pictures of birds in the wild.

“My wife Brenda is the spotter and I take the photos,” he said.

Tony Whitehead, spokesman for the RSPB in the south west, identified the short-eared owl, a species which he first encountered as a young birdwatcher at Stanpit Marsh, Christchurch.

“Short-eared owls are one of the more diurnal owls, flying happily in daylight hours, although normally late afternoon and early morning,” he said.

“Birds we see down here at this time of year are probably migrants from Scandinavia.

“In the photos we see the owl being ‘mobbed’ by other birds, a typical defence behaviour that aims to confuse predators such as this owl.

“Although they are fairly widespread in southern England in winter, I wouldn’t say they’re commonly seen and it’s always a thrill to watch.”