BBC article

Some owls stay in one place all year, some migrate, and some like the Short Eared Owl just go wherever the food is.

They have wintering ground that often overlap their range for the rest of the year. If food and warmth are good enough, they will stay put, otherwise they just go south enough to get what they need.

This seems to be the case this year in Europe for them, as per the article.

In recent weeks, large numbers of the owls have been spotted at places such as the banks of the Humber estuary.

Wildlife guide Margaret Boyd, from East Yorkshire, said “so many more than normal” had been spotted in the area.

A “shortage of food” in regions like Scandinavia was thought have left the owls looking further afield, she said.

According to the RSPB, short-eared owls were “of European conservation concern” as their numbers were in moderate decline.

Speaking at Stone Creek, a popular but remote bird-watching site in East Yorkshire next to the Humber, Ms Boyd said the owls had so far been spotted “all the way from Northumberland down to Norfolk”.

“Short-eared owls winter down on the saltmarshes and grassland of the Humber every year, but this autumn there have been so many more than normal,” she said.

English voles had proved particularly appetising to the hungry visitors, Ms Boyd added.

She said the prospect of witnessing multiple short-eared owls in flight had proved tempting to bird-watchers and photographers from across the country.

“We’re getting people from Birmingham, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and down from Newcastle,” Ms Boyd said.

“These birds are so special. They’re feeding, fighting for their own feeding territory. It’s been amazing.”

He said he thought the sightings of the owls would be plentiful “until at least February”.

His friend added: "It’s been really good for the last few weeks. It’s fantastic to see so many of them together, which you don’t often see.

“They’re a very enigmatic species. Everyone seems to like owls.”