I’ve posted other images of this bird in the past but this one is new to my blog.
When Barn Owls are hunting voles in snow they fly low and slow over the snow’s surface and use their amazing hearing to listen for their rodential activities beneath the surface. When they hear one they plunge head-first into the snow and attempt to make the capture with their beak. If the snow is deep and soft the owls can almost disappear beneath its surface.
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Four years ago at Farmington I watched as this Barn Owl mostly disappeared beneath the fluffy snow in an attempt at a vole. It came up empty and then had to use both of its wings spread out on the snow in its struggle to raise the rest of its body back up to the surface. It held this position for a few moments and then delighted me by giving me a head turn that allowed a look at the eye with a catch light. We even get a good view of that beak that is so often mostly hidden.
I’ve always enjoyed my shots of the owl in this unusual posture partly because I think they’re quite unique. With that head turn, spread-out wings and raised tail I think I’d rather have this rear view than one from the front. And as a bonus there’s even good exposure on the snow with decent detail.
I’ve always wondered if the owl looked back at me in embarrassment to see if I’d noticed its predicament…
Ron
OK, I’m late to this party, but gotta ask if you’ve ever photographed the snow angels left by raptors after they’ve gotten out of the snow? They’re SO gorgeous…much prettier than what we humans can do since we’ve got that gravity thing going on that messes with the overall snow angel idea 😉 And oh yeah, OH WOW!
Nope, never have, Laura. I’ve seen a few but it was always later in the day with the sun high enough that the “snow angel” didn’t have well defined shadows to make it easier to see in a photo. The last one I saw was about a week ago.
Really funny!
Never seen an owl, but came close yesterday: found some pellets (which were so big I felt bad for whatever owl had to cough them up) and dissected them later. There were some squirrel skulls and lots of other bones. I’ve dissected pellets that I found before, but there were less bones and no complete skulls. They were also thinner. Does that mean they were from a hawk?
Levi, When pellets contain multiple bones (including skulls) they’re more likely to be from an owl rather than a hawk. Owls don’t have crops and their digestive juices are less acidic so prey bones tend to come out indigested. And owls are more likely to swallow their prey whole than many hawks are – though some species of each do both (Rough-legged Hawks for example tend to swallow voles whole).
At least that’s my understanding…
That’s an “I meant to do this” look. 😀
Arwen, I remember attempting to provide that “look” myself, in my younger and (slightly) more foolish days when I’d put myself into an embarrassing predicament! 🙂
Super shot Ron!
charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Such a cool shot! I’ve never seen a barn owl in profile before — they look so different. I hope he was able to extricate himself.
I’m thinking he’s looking back to assure you that he meant to do that, sort of like our cat does when she misjudges a jump. Conversely, he could be saying, “Hey! A little help here!”
It’s fun to assign them motives, whatever they might really be.
I am pretty certain that I couldn’t extricate myself. And awed (yet again) at what birds need to do to survive. Remind me to stop complaining about the weather. Even our hot miserable energy sapping weather…
EC, I can take our snow. And our cold. Usually without complaining. But this gunky inversion air is driving me nuts!
Very enjoyable image Ron. Not sure birds actually get embarrassed, still fun to anthropomorphize!
He/she is probably saying to itself, “Dam it, I’ll catch that Vole next time!”
I’m sure they don’t get embarrassed, Dick. I had my tongue deeply embedded in my cheek.
Half an owl is better than none!!!
PS “Bird Brains” don’t “elect” strange colored peers wearing dead animals on their heads and giving them the power to to “lead” them…
😇
Couldn’t agree more about the “half an owl”, Patty.
Great shot! I think the owl was looking back at you to let you know that his/her getting stuck was a figment of your imagination…
Or that it was “his” intention all along!
Nice image Ron! I like how the Barn Owl has its wings spread. If you take a quick look at the image it almost looks as if the owl is flying in a thick fog layer and raising its head up. When I have seen the Barn Owls in this position they do seem to be embarrassed to be seen in this compromising position. Which makes sense given that they are vulnerable to predators.
I had a similar thought, Ed – that it almost looks like the bird is skimming the tops of the clouds at 30,000 ft. 🙂
Yep, very easy to put yourself in the bird’s brain and be asking yourself that question. But here’s a tough one; try to imaging what is actually going on in that brain and put it into words. Could a human do that, and if they could what would he/she be thinking? It’s impossible for a human to dumb himself down to think like a bird or other animal. What if it were? How chaotic would that be? Never mind. Please excuse my banter.
Have a nice morning Ron, and thanks for the brain stimulation.
HI Franks,
I don’t think they’re dumber than us. They are different and have different perceptions and abilities, many of which we cannot experience, such as the ultraviolet light colors that most birds see.
Any animal would know it was stuck and needed to get out of that situation, somehow.
Perhaps the term “dumb down” is not correct and I did not mean to imply birds are dumber than humans. But rather, where would your brain be if you were thinking like a bird. A fruitless exercise however interesting.
Frank, Sometimes I play around with guessing what they might be thinking but it’s really a fools’ errand and I never take myself seriously. Well… almost never.
This morning you got me on that tangent, trying to think like a bird. Interesting brain exercise but as you say, a “fools’ errand. Could be something of a fantasy movie. Consider a kid who wanted to be a bird and fly and he becomes one.
I think we all do it at times, Frank. It’s almost impossible not to.
Cool shot, Ron! 🙂 Capturing this pose again will probably never happen. They do look much different in profile than straight on and the wings spread out on the snow really shows how long they are relative to the rest of the owl.
I think I can count on never getting this pose again, Judy. But with birds you never really know!