Short-eared Owls – An Interesting 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.
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 had a delightful experience this past week in northern Utah with an American Barn Owl that was flying along side the road that I was traveling on.
What made me sick was that there were three of those people tromping around the owl's burrow. I mean RIGHT up on it. They had no need to be that close but they were.
As a bird photographer I often strive for images where the subjects are out in the open, without distractions in the fore or background, but as with any photographic "rule", they are made to be broken.
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.
This blur was not intentional, but I do like the effect caused by the head of the Burrowing Owl spinning. Makes me dizzy just viewing the photo!
I felt it was time to put the beauty of the adult Burrowing Owls in the limelight.
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.
The photographs I have attached to this post are of the same Great Horned Owl fledgling, taken in the same location on the same morning.
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.
If you have never had the opportunity to photograph Burrowing Owl juveniles I would suggest you find a burrow and be prepared to laugh yourself silly.
This was taken on an early December morning, there was heavy, dismal fog and at times a light snow was falling. The hoar frost was still clinging to the feathers and the facial disc of the Barn Owl.