{"id":39990,"date":"2016-06-13T05:35:57","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T11:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39990"},"modified":"2025-07-20T09:17:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T14:17:40","slug":"adult-burrowing-owl-about-to-lift-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/13\/adult-burrowing-owl-about-to-lift-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Burrowing Owl About to Lift Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Burrowing Owl pre-lift off – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This adult Burrowing Owl image was taken at the end of last month near a burrow I found in northern Utah that now has at least four chicks coming up above the ground.<\/p>\n

While the adults are beautiful they are not nearly as animated as the young owls are the first few months of their lives when they are learning to fly, to use their eyes and to hunt.<\/p>\n

I have to admit that photographing young Burrowing Owls is something I look forward to doing every chance I get because they are quite comical at times and always delightful to observe.<\/p>\n

I was photographing this adult hoping to get it on lift off and in flight but looked away from my viewfinder to check my exposure exactly at the time it did lift off so I missed the shots.<\/p>\n

This adult’s bill is bloody either from their last meal or from dispatching a meal for their young<\/p>\n

Oh well, I have never said that bird photography is easy.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was photographing this adult hoping to get it on lift off and in flight but looked away from my viewfinder to check my exposure exactly at the time it did lift off so I missed the shots. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150530,"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":[27,1148,52,26],"tags":[4004,55,5750,5552,8023,4214,4098,898,4282,4062,6613,294,165,4516],"class_list":["post-39990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-burrowing-owls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-athene-cunicularia","tag-beak","tag-bill","tag-bloody","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-desert","tag-fence-post","tag-lift-off","tag-male","tag-metal-post","tag-owls","tag-spring","tag-western-burrowing-owl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/burrowing-owl-adult-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-5624.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ap0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5333,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/14\/adult-burrowing-owl-lift-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":39990,"position":0},"title":"Adult Burrowing Owl Lift Off","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been having fun photographing Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) lately and it is a joy to have them in my viewfinder again.","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 lifting off, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/burrowing-owl-adult-liftoff-mia-mcpherson-0075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/burrowing-owl-adult-liftoff-mia-mcpherson-0075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/burrowing-owl-adult-liftoff-mia-mcpherson-0075.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/burrowing-owl-adult-liftoff-mia-mcpherson-0075.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/20\/aba-bird-of-the-year-2022-the-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":39990,"position":1},"title":"ABA Bird Of The Year 2022 – The Burrowing Owl!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It was announced yesterday that the Burrowing Owl is the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year! 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Burrowing Owl calling while in flight, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-calling-flight-mia-mcpherson-0655.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-calling-flight-mia-mcpherson-0655.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-calling-flight-mia-mcpherson-0655.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-calling-flight-mia-mcpherson-0655.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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