{"id":36591,"date":"2016-03-01T05:27:49","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T12:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=36591"},"modified":"2025-07-30T03:26:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T08:26:01","slug":"short-eared-owl-in-tooele-county-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/01\/short-eared-owl-in-tooele-county-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owl in Tooele County, Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a while since I photographed this Short-eared Owl in Tooele County at the James W. Fitzgerald WMA yet I still think about seeing it and several other owls at the WMA perched, in flight and hunting. It was last May when I saw them.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl in Tooele County – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m a bit of an owl freak, I guess you could even say I have a delightful case of strigiformesphilia, an obsession with owls. It is not nearly as severe as my addiction to bird photography but it is pretty close!<\/p>\n

For a few years I was able to photograph Short-eared Owls often but for the past couple of years my encounters with them have been very limited to brief but exhilarating sightings and fewer opportunities to photograph them. Maybe that will change this year.<\/p>\n

Normally I would prefer to have this owl fill the frame more than it does but I am also quite fond of showing my subjects small in the frame so that more of its habitat is shown like it is in this owl photo. For me it feels as if I have been invited into the owl’s world for a short but wonderful visit and I hope that people viewing this image feel much the same.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a while since I photographed this Short-eared Owl in Tooele County at the James W. Fitzgerald WMA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135489,"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":[27,3762,130,358,26],"tags":[4004,4114,2663,4098,898,3967,294,4353,4104,3971,165],"class_list":["post-36591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-james-w-fitzgerald-wma","category-short-eared-owls","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-desert","tag-fence-post","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/short-eared-owl-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-3746.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9wb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24282,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/22\/a-mourning-dove-in-the-stansbury-mountains-and-a-few-bonus-short-eared-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":36591,"position":0},"title":"Mourning Dove in the Stansbury Mountains and a few bonus Short-Eared Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When I spotted this Mourning Dove perched on an old fence post in the morning light I couldn't resist photographing it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mourning Dove in the Stansbury Mountains of the West Desert in Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-tooele-mia-mcpherson-3729.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-tooele-mia-mcpherson-3729.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-tooele-mia-mcpherson-3729.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-tooele-mia-mcpherson-3729.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52607,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/06\/15\/sagebrush-country-short-eared-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":36591,"position":1},"title":"Sagebrush Country & Short-eared Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I see and photograph Short-eared Owls in Sagebrush Country quite often. I spend a lot of time in areas where there is sagebrush dotting the desert, steppes and hillsides here in Utah and I find these amazing owls there.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl in Sagebrush Country, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-1150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-1150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-1150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-1150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79015,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/07\/its-superb-owl-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":36591,"position":2},"title":"It’s Superb Owl Sunday!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It is Superb Owl Sunday so I wanted to share four of the owls that I see most frequently. Barn, Burrowing, Great Horned and Short-eared Owls are the owls that I photograph most often here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Short-eared Owl resting in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.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-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39425,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/13\/short-eared-owls-nomadic-and-enchanting\/","url_meta":{"origin":36591,"position":3},"title":"Short-eared Owls – Nomadic and Enchanting","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This year I've seen far more Short-eared Owls in Utah than I have since I moved here in 2009 and I've been enjoying photographing these nomadic and enchanting owls for over a month.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Short-eared Owl basking in sunlight, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-perched-mia-mcherson-8178.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-male-perched-mia-mcherson-8178.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-perched-mia-mcherson-8178.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-perched-mia-mcherson-8178.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52342,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/30\/fledgling-short-eared-owl-perched-on-a-tumbleweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":36591,"position":4},"title":"Fledgling Short-eared Owl Perched On A Tumbleweed – Two Years Ago Today","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Two years ago today I had a fantastic time photographing Short-eared Owl fledglings on tumbleweeds that were in front a fence in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Short-eared Owl on a tumbleweed, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-7157.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-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75109,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/05\/male-short-eared-owl-perched-at-the-edge-of-a-sagebrush-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":36591,"position":5},"title":"Male Short-eared Owl Perched At The Edge Of A Sagebrush Sea","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I am always looking for Short-eared Owls in northern Utah because they are year round residents here but they are nomadic which means I don't always see them.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Short-eared Owl perched at the edge of a sagebrush sea, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-wooden-fence-post-centered-mia-mcpherson-4078.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-male-wooden-fence-post-centered-mia-mcpherson-4078.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-wooden-fence-post-centered-mia-mcpherson-4078.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-wooden-fence-post-centered-mia-mcpherson-4078.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}