Tag: #ShortEaredOwls

Short-Eared Owls on the Hunt

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.

Short-eared Owl on the hunt – fly by
Short-eared owls on the hunt
Short-Eared Owls on the hunt. – This one flew over a trail you allowed on.
Short-Eared Owl on the hunt

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!

Short-Eared Owl at Night

I usually can only go on Sunday afternoons. Up until now this winter I have not seen short-eared owls, except at quite a distance. Tonight I saw them closer, but still not very close after sunset.

Short-Eared Owl at Night

Weekends are not a good time to go. I have been going on Sundays since early December with little luck. It is crowded and people tend to be loud on the weekends, hence the owls stay far beyond the distance to take a decent photo. Not a good recipe for chances to see them up close. This was just after sunset. Here’s hoping I have better luck in the future.

More Short Eared Owls

Still hoping to see short eared owls up close. I caught these right before sunset. Occasionally you may have to opportunity to see them earlier in the day, but many times they come up an hour or two before sunset.

In hunting mode. They seem to get a lot of voles here.

Short eared owls sleep on the ground, making them susceptible to predators. I heard possibly a coyote got one at this location a few years ago.

Once again I saw an owl and a harrier fighting over food, although I did not include it here.

Just two short eared owls having fun.
Sitting on a rock and staring at me.

Again, these owls are very far away and these images are heavily cropped. Regardless I got in a long walk, and it is fun to see them from afar as well.

Owl Catch

Cats take pride in being a predator. They are known to sneak a mouse or two inside as a trophy to impress the human caretaker of their house. Do owls try to impress humans with their hunting prowess?

It sure felt that this owl was trying to impress me when I was watching. The owl kept circling overhead holding onto its prey. I even think he was trying to insure I got a good shot of his kill.

The weather has been mostly cloudy and dark. We had 50-60 mile an hour winds last night. Hard to get good shots when you need to have your ISO up to very high numbers. Wishing for some sunny days in the week ahead. Merry Christmas everyone or Happy New Year! Stay safe!