Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owls are medium sized, mottled brown owls that have ear tufts that are not always visible.
This male Short-eared Owl in evening light was photographed last year in Glacier County, Montana not too long before the sun set.
Seeing the word "Montana" so often has gotten me anxious, antsy and itching to head north soon to see more of a state that beckons to me because I have fallen in love with it.
The first destination was Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge a place I've become very familiar with and a location that I think is incredibly beautiful.
I am always looking for the unexpected birds to show up in locations where I might not expect them them to be and this Short-eared Owl was a bit of a nice surprise.
Soon after that I saw the shape of a larger bird near where the Coyote had gone into the sagebrush which turned out to be an adult Short-eared Owl.
The grasses are beginning to turn golden with the summer heat, the Moth Mulleins are starting to bloom and the Great Salt Lake level is still rising from spring run off.
I will soon be on the road back to Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southern Montana, another one of my favorite locations on this planet.
I hope to find some Short-eared Owls this winter in Utah, I think that some snow would make for a lovely setting for these delightful & enchanting birds.
A foggy morning at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge brought me 13 minutes of joy after spotting a shape on the gravel road, it was a female Short-eared Owl and she flew up and landed on a post not too far from the road.
I got excited while I was on the refuge when I spotted a female Short-eared Owl that flew up from the gravel road and landed on a fence post in a heavy, swirling fog.