{"id":56354,"date":"2019-02-28T06:46:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T13:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=56354"},"modified":"2023-02-28T06:45:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T13:45:30","slug":"short-eared-owl-with-a-stormy-sky-small-in-the-frame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/28\/short-eared-owl-with-a-stormy-sky-small-in-the-frame\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owl With A Stormy Sky – Small In The Frame"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Short-eared Owl in flight with a stormy sky \u2013 Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This Short-eared Owl is very small in the frame and yet I couldn’t drag the file into my delete bin the day I took it nearly three years ago and I still can’t do it today. There is a story behind this image and I know that viewing this photo stirs my memories of the day I took it because of the back story but that isn’t the only reason I find this image appealing.<\/p>\n

I love the darkness and the light in the stormy sky in the background, how well lit the Short-eared Owl was and the position of his wings in flight and I like that he is small in this<\/em> frame because this is often the view that I and others have of these wonderful owls in the field. I appreciate every view I have of Short-eared Owls from a distance or closer up. To the naked eye this owl was simply a dinky speck in the sky.<\/p>\n

To get this owl sharply in focus was no small feat considering how far away he actually was. Believe me, I wish my earlier images of him from that morning had been this sharp because it may have answered the questions I had about why this male Short-eared Owl and his mate had been aggressively dive bombing a coyote as it ran through grasses and sage on a hill in the distance.<\/p>\n

That morning I had been photographing a pair of Long-billed Curlews when some movement in the distance caught my eyes and I could see the form of a coyote running with two owls diving at it<\/span><\/a>. Once I was able to focus my lens on the coyote I could see that it was carrying something furry or fuzzy in its mouth and I took quite a few images of the coyote and the owls in a very long burst hoping to be able to see what it was that the coyote was carrying. Unfortunately for me there were heat waves that caused a great deal of distortion in those photos so I never could figure out what the coyote had grasped in its teeth. It was early April which is nesting season for the Short-eared Owls here in northern Utah and I suspect that the coyote may have snatched a chick from their nest but the owls could also have noticed the coyote carrying some other type of other prey close to their nest and may have been dive-bombing it in a joint effort to move the coyote away from their hidden nest. I will never know the answer to my questions about the behavior of those owls and what the coyote had in its mouth that morning no matter how I wish I could.<\/p>\n

Once the owls chased the coyote away from their nesting area the female flew to a hill and disappeared at the base of a scraggly bush while the male flew high into the sky where a storm was brewing to the north which is when I took this photo.<\/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":"

I love the darkness and the light in the stormy sky in the background, how well lit the Short-eared Owl was and the position of his wings in flight and I like that he is small in this frame because this is often the view that I and others have of these wonderful owls in the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110583,"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":[27,1148,130,26],"tags":[4004,4114,4101,4052,4062,3967,294,3971,4018,4043,4500,4197],"class_list":["post-56354","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-adult","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-clouds","tag-flight","tag-male","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-sky","tag-small-in-frame","tag-storm","tag-stormy-sky"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/short-eared-owl-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eEW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67299,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/24\/adult-male-short-eared-owl-flying-in-front-of-a-stormy-sky\/","url_meta":{"origin":56354,"position":0},"title":"Adult Male Short-eared Owl Flying In Front Of A Stormy Sky","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This isn't the kind of Short-eared Owl image you'll see in a bird guide but when you are looking for these owls in the field sometimes a view like this is all you will get.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Short-eared Owl flying in front of a stormy sky, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.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-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.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-flight-storm-clouds-mia-mcpherson-1630.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70891,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/14\/photographing-three-short-eared-owls-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":56354,"position":1},"title":"Photographing Three Short-eared Owls In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know for sure if I will see another Short-eared Owl to photograph this year but I do know I had fun photographing these three.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Short-eared Owl in flight over a sagebrush sea, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40562,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/18\/short-eared-owl-in-flight-over-a-wet-meadow\/","url_meta":{"origin":56354,"position":2},"title":"Short-eared Owl In Flight Over A Wet Meadow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Short-eared Owl in flight over a wet meadow was just one of my favorite images taken yesterday in the Centennial Valley.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Short-eared Owl in flight, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4988.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4988.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4988.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4988.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48093,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/13\/short-eared-owl-on-an-old-juniper-fence-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":56354,"position":3},"title":"Short-eared Owl On An Old Juniper Fence Post","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I loved taking photos of birds on those old fence posts like this male Short-eared Owl that was looking down to the ground for prey.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl male on a old juniper fence post, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-male-mia-mcpherson-0123.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-male-mia-mcpherson-0123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-male-mia-mcpherson-0123.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-male-mia-mcpherson-0123.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41369,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/27\/young-short-eared-owls-calling-begging-and-lifting-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":56354,"position":4},"title":"Young Short-eared Owls Calling, Begging and Lifting Off","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I miss these young Short-eared Owls but I hope they are doing well and will return next year to breed and have young of their own.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Begging fledgling Short-eared Owl, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-begging-mia-mcpherson-7898.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-juvenile-begging-mia-mcpherson-7898.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-begging-mia-mcpherson-7898.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-begging-mia-mcpherson-7898.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15063,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/28\/male-short-eared-owl-in-evening-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":56354,"position":5},"title":"Male Short-eared Owl In Evening Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The nicknames for Short-eared Owls are many and include Evening Owl, Mouse-hawk, Marsh Owl, Bog Owl and Flat-faced Owl but I just call them Shorties in the field.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Short-eared Owl in evening light in flight over a marsh, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-8254.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-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-8254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-8254.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-8254.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\/56354","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=56354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}