Short-eared Owls In Flight

These three images are of a mated pair of Short-eared Owls taken two years ago at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Montana.

 

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 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

This is the male delivering a vole to his family.  As you can see from my techs I had to max out my settings (especially on the last two images) to try to get enough shutter speed for flight shots.  Each of these photos was taken on different mornings but the light was consistently a challenge while we were there.

 

 

short-eared-owl-5197

  1/800, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

 This is the elusive female.  I got very few shots of her because she spent most of the time on the nest with her two chicks and I rarely saw her fly.

 

 

short-eared-owl-7138

 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

Another look at the male.

There’s a good reason for the timing of this post – we’re at Red Rock right now (I prepared this post before leaving and post-dated publication) and anticipation of this trip had me thinking about these wonderful owls again.  We’d have to be pretty lucky to find cooperative owls again but if not there should be plenty of other birds to work with.  The biggest challenge on this trip is likely to be light.  Red Rocks is right on the continental divide and early summer weather up there is volatile and often down-right scary – especially when you’re pulling a camping trailer over 30 miles of dirt roads!  These trips are always an adventure but one we look forward to every year.

Ron

Note:  As always, these birds were not baited, set up or called in.

6 Comments

  1. Elephant's Child
    June 12, 2012 at 11:21 pm

    You are giving my oooh and aaah responses a lot of exercise this week. I love owls, and these are simply beautiful captures. Thank you. Again.

    • Ron Dudley
      June 14, 2012 at 6:03 pm

      I always appreciate your comments Elephants Child. Thank you. And I hope the difficult times you’ve been experiencing lately come to a swift and pleasant conclusion.

  2. Bob Zeller
    June 12, 2012 at 8:35 pm

    I’d love to get some in-flight shots of the Great Horned Owls around here. But they (when I do see them), they are usually flying through dense trees. Your shots a amazing, Ron. Acton-stopping with great detail.

    • Ron Dudley
      June 14, 2012 at 6:01 pm

      Thanks Bob. I’ve tried for 6 years now to get flight shots of GHO’s at my family farm in Montana but everything so far has ended up in the delete bin. So I know what you mean…

  3. Sharon Constant
    June 12, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    These are so stunning! All of your work that I have seen here is so stunningly beautiful–words can’t do them justice. I came across your blog while in Vernal, Utah last week. I was looking for good places to see some birds and your site popped up. I can’t stop looking at your images. I am so grateful that you take the time to share your images, thoughts, camera settings, and techniques.

    Thank you so much,
    Sharon

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