What do you do on a day off? Besides running some errands I also went to see how close the short-eared owls would come today.
It helped that is was a sunny day and not too windy. They came out at around sunset, so we all had a little bit of time to photography them. They were closer than I had seen them from early December through the beginning of February on Sundays, but not too close. These are all taken with a zoom lens and are heavily cropped. Squeeze in some time with nature and wildlife on your days off. Have a great week!
Sharon's Iconic Travel Photography Blog 
WOW.
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Seems we have a lot in common and several thousand miles apart!
Nice shots. Luckily mine was quite close and in the morning.
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I am limited. We have to stay on certain trail sections only to view these. It is quite a big area and the trail sections we are allowed on are near the perimeter of the land. I feel lucky to see them as close as I did. Someday I hope to see them as close as you fo. You had great shots!
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Wonderful captures!
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So cool.
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They are!
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Awesome flight shots, Sharon!
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Stunning photos, absolutely amazing!
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Great shots!
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I’m happy to see them. Here’s hoping we have not so many rainy days in our future.
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Great shots Sharon. Owl’s faces always look like they are surprised. Happy Tuesday. Allan
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They know we are there. I love it when they look at us when they do fly bys.
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nature
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My favorite is the last image, sweet to see the owl’s wing spread downward, reminds me of a butterfly.
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It is interesting to see how they fly. I’m just hoping predators don’t get them as they sleep on the ground.
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I didn’t know they slept on the ground, I assumed they lived in tree nests :), nature is full of surprises.
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Two Arctic owls sleep on the ground: the snowy owl and the short eared owl. Both of these have been in NY to winter. At the place I go to see short eared a man told me a few years ago he was standing on the path watching for owls when one sleeping in the grass in front of him all the sudden woke up and flew up right in front of him close to the trail. The grass is tall and thick you would not know they are there. I saw a snowy owl fly up from a grassy area during the daytime.
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What a surprise! I wonder why they do that but I guess they have their reasons.
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Well, a day off seems to have paid dividends. Very nice, Sharon. Cool pics. I keep working on my “flying bird” attempts. Practice, practice practice, more fe, and I still miss.
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We have experienced so much cloudy, rainy weather on my days off , it has been great to have a few sunny days. Yes, indeed this day off paid off.
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Well done Sharon – short-eareds can be a touch tin as they are late to take flight and not the most predictable in flight.
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