{"id":54823,"date":"2018-10-31T05:38:11","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T11:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54823"},"modified":"2025-06-15T15:54:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T20:54:55","slug":"happy-howloween","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/31\/happy-howloween\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy HOwloween"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-148720 size-full\" title=\"Bright Yellow eyes of a Short-eared Owl chick, Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992.jpg\" alt=\"Bright Yellow eyes of a Short-eared Owl chick, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Bright Yellow eyes of a Short-eared Owl chick &#8211; Nikon D810, f10, 1\/500, ISO 320, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Owls scare some people probably because many owls are nocturnal which means they hunt and fly at night and for some people being out at nighttime is a scary time and when an owl flies by it startles them or makes them have to change their underpants as soon as they can. Barn Owls do have an eerie, other worldly call and I suppose that some people might think the same of Great Horned and Barred Owls hooting in the night.<\/p>\n<p>Halloween is supposed to be a night of frights, screams and tricks and treats. I don&#8217;t get being afraid of owls, not even a little bit but somehow owls became connected to witches and witches to Halloween and now Halloween decorations include owls as often as bats and witches. That is just a fact.<\/p>\n<p>Does this Short-eared Owl chick with bright yellow eyes look scary to you? It sure doesn&#8217;t to me. The young owl looks like it might be curious about the woman pointing long glass at it and that is about all. So no, I don&#8217;t think owls are scary, not even a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>But Halloween is about fun and what could be more fun than seeing an owl in nature? Seeing more than one.<\/p>\n<p>Owls are great.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/short-eared-owl-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">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":"<p>Does this Short-eared Owl chick with bright yellow eyes look scary to you? It sure doesn&#8217;t to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,9,130,26],"tags":[4114,2663,5007,4134,4141,11342,3967,294,3971,1667],"class_list":["post-54823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-owls","category-short-eared-owls","category-utah","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bright","tag-chick","tag-fledgling","tag-halloween","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-yellow-eyes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2992.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-egf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39708,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/24\/northern-utah-short-eared-owl-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":54823,"position":0},"title":"Northern Utah Short-eared Owl Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It felt amazing to be alone with these northern Utah Short-eared Owl chicks for a few brief moments yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Box Elder County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl chick in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.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-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51074,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/25\/photographing-short-eared-owl-fledglings-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":54823,"position":1},"title":"Photographing Short-eared Owl Fledglings in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Both of the fledgling Short-eared Owls I took photos of that morning appeared very relaxed while I photographed them, they looked around, preened, yawned, stretched and even rested with their eyes closed.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl fledgling with a fly on its belly, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-fly-mia-mcpherson-6902.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-fly-mia-mcpherson-6902.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-fledgling-fly-mia-mcpherson-6902.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-fly-mia-mcpherson-6902.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71242,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/26\/curious-short-eared-owl-fledgling-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":54823,"position":2},"title":"Curious Short-eared Owl Fledgling At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I took quite a few photos of the fledgling Short-eared Owl that I had a clear view of and even though the lighting wasn't the best I was enchanted by the views I had of it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Curious fledgling Short-eared Owl, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/short-eared-owl-chick-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/short-eared-owl-chick-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/short-eared-owl-chick-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4000.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/short-eared-owl-chick-grasses-mia-mcpherson-4000.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50440,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/01\/young-short-eared-owl-a-stroke-of-serendipity\/","url_meta":{"origin":54823,"position":3},"title":"Young Short-eared Owl &#8211; A Stroke of Serendipity","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If I hadn't turned my Jeep around when I did in the direction I chose I would never have found three adorable Short-eared Owl chicks not far from the shoulder of the road in beautiful morning light.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Short-eared Owl, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2898.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2898.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2898.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/short-eared-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-2898.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45243,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/26\/nomadic-short-eared-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":54823,"position":4},"title":"Nomadic Short-eared Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Short-eared Owls are nomadic because they follow their main prey which is voles and if the vole population is low the Short-eared Owl density will also be low.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl chick in early morning light, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-road-side-mia-mcpherson-2797.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-road-side-mia-mcpherson-2797.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-road-side-mia-mcpherson-2797.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-road-side-mia-mcpherson-2797.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":54823,"position":5},"title":"Sagebrush Country &#038; 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 &quot;Birds&quot;","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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54823","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=54823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}