{"id":40087,"date":"2016-06-20T05:18:47","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T11:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40087"},"modified":"2024-08-20T05:40:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T10:40:10","slug":"short-eared-owl-fledgling-barbed-wire-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/20\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-barbed-wire-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owl Fledgling Barbed Wire Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a bird photographer I see many amazing things but I also see things that make me feel as if I have been punched in my gut and yesterday I experienced that punched in the gut feeling again. I was photographing in northern Utah when I spotted an adult Short-eared Owl along the road perched on a sagebrush stump that had been pulled out of the ground to make way for a new fence this spring.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl fledgling caught on barbed wire – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Right after seeing the adult I also saw a fledgling Short-eared Eared Owl about 8 to 10 feet from the adult hung up on barbed wire. I think this one image of the fledgling says it all for me.<\/p>\n

Gut punch.<\/p>\n

Then I saw it move its head and knew that it was still alive. I shouted “stop” because we were traveling fast.\u00a0 After telling Ron what I saw, he turned his pickup around and we went back to the fledgling.<\/p>\n

We had been through this before in Montana with a Barn Owl caught on barb wire<\/span> <\/a>and we knew we needed to get the fledgling off of that fence and in the hands of a rehabber as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

While we were trying to get the owl removed from the fence I was calling friends for help and reached Jerry Liguori and Mike Shaw, both of whom work for Hawkwatch International<\/span><\/a> in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n

Once the fledgling was removed from the fence and wrapped in a towel it was time to head towards help. Jerry, Mike, and myself were all calling WRCNU (Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah<\/span><\/a>) in Ogden trying to reach one of their staff to let them know about the owl.<\/p>\n

I rode more than 90 miles with the young owl on my lap wrapped in the towel and was amazed at how light it felt. It was bright-eyed, didn’t appear to be dehydrated so it is possible that I found it not long after it got caught in the fence. Inside the towel it wiggled, stretched, clacked its bill and hissed.<\/p>\n

I’m used to photographing Short-eared Owls using my 500mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter attached so they look large when I am viewing them through my viewfinder but seeing them up close and having held this fledgling makes me realize just how small they really are.<\/p>\n

After failing to reach anyone at\u00a0WRCNU we met Mike Shaw at Hawkwatch International where he took the owl and then handed it over to a person heading to WRCNU. I haven’t had an update on the fledgling yet but I hope that it is doing well.<\/p>\n

I want to personally thank Jerry and Mike for going above and beyond with their support and help in the rescue of this Short-eared Owl fledgling. You two are great at what you do and I am sincerely thankful that you both picked up the phone to help. We needed you and you both came through.<\/p>\n

I hope to get an update on this fledgling today.<\/p>\n

I hate seeing wildlife caught in barbed wire. I am glad we found this owl alive and that were were able to get it removed from the fence and into caring hands. I hope its wing isn’t broken and that it will be successfully rehabilitated and released just like the Barn Owl in Montana was.<\/p>\n

\"FledglingFledgling Short-eared Owl stretching – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to share just one more image of a Short-eared Owl fledgling, wild, free and not caught up in barbed wire. Just doing what young owls do.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. It can also be sad, frustrating and perplexing but still good.<\/p>\n

Update: Good news! No broken bones, needed a few stitches, this little owl ate all its food and it looks like it can be released if it does well in rehab!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right after seeing the adult I also saw a fledgling Short-eared Eared Owl about 8 to 10 feet from the adult hung up on barbed wire. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1148,130,26],"tags":[4114,1894,4430,3840,4098,5203,4141,5205,4607,294,4353,11852,5206,4662,3971,165,3964,5204],"class_list":["post-40087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-short-eared-owls","category-utah","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-barb-wire","tag-barbed-wire","tag-barbed-wire-dangers","tag-desert","tag-fences","tag-fledgling","tag-hawkwatch-international","tag-injury","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-ranchlands","tag-rehabber","tag-rehabilitated","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-spring","tag-stretching","tag-wildlife-rehabilitation-center-of-northern-utah"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t