{"id":24229,"date":"2015-05-21T05:02:25","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T11:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=24229"},"modified":"2025-02-15T07:09:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T13:09:19","slug":"a-short-eared-owl-photobombed-by-a-butterfly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/21\/a-short-eared-owl-photobombed-by-a-butterfly\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owl photobombed by a butterfly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl photobombed by a butterfly – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I have been spending time this week moving my owl images from their old galleries to the new ones and some times that means digging through my archives to reprocess some of the images.<\/p>\n

Why? Because I want them all to have my current copyright watermark on them and by digging through my archives I am finding images I had forgotten about or had not processed before. Some are gems and a few are just funny.<\/p>\n

I think this Short-eared Owl being photobombed by what appears to be a Cabbage Butterfly falls under the funny ones.<\/p>\n

The image was taken next to some CRP (Conservation Reserve Program<\/span><\/a>) land in Glacier County, Montana in the evening light. The owl pretty much stayed in that same area all afternoon but the light started getting better around 7 pm when this image was taken.<\/p>\n

There was escaped alfalfa and sweet clover blooming on the CRP land which probably attracted the butterfly.<\/p>\n

My only wish for this image is that the butterfly had been as sharply in focus as the Short-eared Owl was but with bird photography you never know what might show up in the frame.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Short-eared Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Image taken in August, 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My only wish for this image is that the butterfly had been as sharply in focus as the Short-eared Owl was but with bird photography you never know what might show up in the frame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,860,12,130],"tags":[4004,4114,2663,3761,914,912,11563,898,3967,294,3971,2315,8917],"class_list":["post-24229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-glacier-county","category-montana","category-short-eared-owls","tag-adult","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-cabbage-butterfly","tag-conservation-reserve-program","tag-crp-land","tag-farmlands","tag-fence-post","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-summer-3","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-3663.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6iN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1624,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/12\/short-eared-owl-in-a-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":24229,"position":0},"title":"Short-eared 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light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Both images are appealing to me because I enjoy the foggy softness of the female Short-eared Owl image and the warm, golden tones of the male Short-eared Owl photo.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Short-eared Owl photographed in a lake fog","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/short-eared-owl-female-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-8624.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/short-eared-owl-female-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-8624.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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these beautiful owls began.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl with a green field, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-grassy-field-mia-mcpherson-9185.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-grassy-field-mia-mcpherson-9185.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-grassy-field-mia-mcpherson-9185.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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