{"id":39498,"date":"2016-05-15T06:24:44","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T12:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39498"},"modified":"2024-12-23T06:01:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T12:01:52","slug":"burrowing-and-short-eared-owls-in-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/15\/burrowing-and-short-eared-owls-in-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Burrowing and Short-eared Owls in May – Satisfying my Owl Obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult male Burrowing Owl on a rusted pole – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/400, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

In my Exceptionally Obliging Turkey Vulture<\/span><\/a> post yesterday I mentioned that I had headed north to find owls, Short-eared and Burrowing, and that I had found them, lots of them.<\/p>\n

I started the morning by seeing a Short-eared Owl in its moth-like flight way off in the distance but the first owl I focused on with my camera was a male Burrowing Owl on a rusted pole in warm golden light.<\/p>\n

\"SunriseSunrise adult Burrowing Owl male – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/320, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Then a few minutes after I left the first Burrowing Owl I found another one close to the road in what I think was great light with a creamy and complimentary background. Sure it is a man made perch but could the light and background get any sweeter?<\/p>\n

I saw quite a few more Burrowing Owls off in the distance too on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl profile – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/320, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The next owl I was to photograph on Friday was a Short-eared Owl male in profile looking around either for prey or at the other birds in flight nearby. We have had so much rain this spring that fields that are normally drying up by May are still green and lush which delights me for the different backgrounds I am able to obtain.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl male hunting from a perch – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I watched as this Short-eared Owl dove to the ground after prey and came up with empty talons twice and as it kept searching with its eyes for more prey.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Short-eared Owl on a May morning – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

After an unsuccessful attempt at grabbing prey the owl landed on the same perch. This owl had bloody talons so I knew it had recently caught something.<\/p>\n

\"Burrowing<\/p>\n

Male Burrowing Owl Standing Guard – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

As I drove around I saw quite a few more owls that I didn’t photograph because they were either too far away or they were close but in poor lighting conditions. As I was getting ready to head home though I had to stop and capture a series of images of this male Burrowing Owl standing guard about 70 feet from an active burrow where I could see a female close to the opening.<\/p>\n

I am thoroughly enjoying photographing Burrowing and Short-eared Owls in May and satisfying my owl obsession. But the month isn’t over yet and there is June, July, August and September yet to come.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

P.S., my owl obsession will never be satisfied. Ever. I can’t imagine ever seeing enough of them to do that.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Short-eared Owl photos plus with facts and information about this species. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Burrowing Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am thoroughly enjoying photographing Burrowing and Short-eared Owls in May and satisfying my owl obsession. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138130,"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":[27,1148,52,130,26],"tags":[4004,4114,55,2663,4214,4062,5456,294,4353,4104,3971],"class_list":["post-39498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-burrowing-owls","category-short-eared-owls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-athene-cunicularia","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-male","tag-moth-like-flight","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-short-eared-owl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/burrowing-owl-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-9138.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ah4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/03\/photos-of-owls-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":39498,"position":0},"title":"Photos Of Owls In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I spend a lot of time in the field looking for, observing and photographing owls and obtaining photos of them in flight can often be frustrating when I have the opportunity but very fulfilling when I accomplish my goal.","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":"Focused flight of a juvenile Burrowing Owl, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-0758.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51259,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/16\/looking-for-burrowing-and-short-eared-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":39498,"position":1},"title":"Looking For Burrowing And Short-eared Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm getting ansty for spring migration and for the birds that it will bring including Burrowing and Short-eared Owls which I always look forward to photographing here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Burrowing Owl on a May morning, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/burrowing-owl-adult-mia-mcpherson-2869.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/burrowing-owl-adult-mia-mcpherson-2869.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/burrowing-owl-adult-mia-mcpherson-2869.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/burrowing-owl-adult-mia-mcpherson-2869.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":39498,"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":37907,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/05\/more-owls-turkey-vultures-plus-a-third-year-bald-eagle\/","url_meta":{"origin":39498,"position":3},"title":"More Owls, Turkey Vultures Plus A Third Year Bald Eagle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I mentioned in my post about Short-eared Owls yesterday that I saw Burrowing Owls, Turkey Vultures and a third year Bald Eagle juvenile in northern Utah so I thought I would share a few more images form the northern Utah excursion.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Third year Bald Eagle in Box Elder County, Utah. Perched on lichen covered boulders near the Promontory Mountains.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2806.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2806.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2806.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2806.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15443,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/07\/24\/posts-from-the-past-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":39498,"position":4},"title":"Posts from the Past – Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am focusing on older posts that have owls in them starting with Great Horned Owls.","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":"Pair of Great Horned Owls with their eyes on the Montana sky, Glacier County\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mia-mcpherson-montana-1949.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mia-mcpherson-montana-1949.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mia-mcpherson-montana-1949.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52851,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/01\/sleepy-yawning-juvenile-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":39498,"position":5},"title":"Sleepy, Yawning Juvenile Burrowing Owl","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm a little like this sleepy juvenile Burrowing Owl this morning, I overslept, my coffee still hasn't kicked in, I'm yawning frequently and I am still sleepy.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sleepy juvenile Burrowing Owl, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-yawning-mia-mcpherson-0567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-yawning-mia-mcpherson-0567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-yawning-mia-mcpherson-0567.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-yawning-mia-mcpherson-0567.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\/39498","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=39498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}