I often have great difficulty approaching Short-eared Owls but this probable male seemed glued to his perch.
Each of these images is presented in the order they were taken.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I found him five days ago in northern Utah as he was intensely hunting prey from an old, weathered fence post. Almost certainly this bird is the father of the juvenile SEO perched on barbed wire I posted a few days ago because the two owls were quite close to each other and I could see the apparent adult female a few hundred yards down the road. I believe they were both still keeping a close eye on the youngster.
But for now this owl was interested in nothing more than looking for voles in the grasses nearby. He was nearly always looking down…
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
in one direction or another and at different angles – sometimes so steeply I could barely see his eyes.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
But usually the angle wasn’t so steep which pleased this photographer because the eyes of our subjects are usually so important in our photographs.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
He was even watching behind him – sometimes further behind him than this but then I couldn’t see his eyes. He may have been watching something other than potential prey coming in his direction as you’ll see further on in this post.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Occasionally, though not very often, he’d check me out but I sure didn’t hold much interest for him.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
He’d always go back to looking for those elusive little rodents. By this time I’d removed my teleconverter for possible takeoff shots but the owl had no intention of vacating a favorite hunting platform until he spotted a vole.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
Not even a cow passing very close behind him could distract him from his mission (check out what my optics did to the eye of the bovine – it’s a little subtle but it’s there). Eventually I decided to leave him and drive down the road to photograph the young owl on the wire but I was reluctant to do so because it meant that I’d have to pass very close to this owl and I always try to avoid flushing birds whenever possible (one day I’m going to have a T-shirt made that reads “Flush Toilets, Not Birds” – a favorite saying of fellow birder and photographer Shyloh Robinson…).
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
But not only did he ignore me as I passed within a few feet of him – he was actually more interested in something (possibly a raven, a buteo of some kind or another owl) flying high overhead. I suspect he was concerned about any possible threat to his nearby youngster. In this shot, even with my tc removed, I had to shoot vertically in order to get all of the owl in the frame.
I found this bird at 6:30 AM, within minutes of dawn at this spot (because of nearby mountains), so it was a bonus to photograph him in warm, early morning light.
I love it when that happens.
Ron
So much fun seeing your photos of owls. Beautiful Ron!! And such a patient bird to boot…a treat indeed. Bravo all the way around.
Ooooh. Too many owls would be barely enough. Love the focus this one (and you) maintained.
The cow eye looks decidedly ‘zombified’. Popular culture may have got me more than I realised.
Thank you, EC.
I thought the cow looked ethereal, too, sort of ghost-like.
I also noticed the barring on the owl’s primaries. For some reason it really stood out for me. I’m certain it shows in your other photos, too, Ron.
Fabulous shots in such perfect light! Even though his eyes are almost entirely blocked, I really like the 2nd shot. His face is at such an unusual angle. You must have held some interest for him — he’s raised his ear tufts while he was checking you out. 😉
BTW, I’m so used to this being a bird site that I misread “cow” as “crow” and kept trying to make sense of the shadow. I think I need a nap! 😉
Ha, I think my own Dumbo ears might have inspired him, Marty!
And I’m going to take my nap right now! I’m… fading……..fast…………….
I hear ya! zzzzzz…
That owl is really on the job…and on a post…would job and perch make that his “post office”???
Oh ga-roan! Patty, that’s bad — must be because I’m still laughing! 😉
What Marty said…HEHEHEHE!
What Marty said…
I like all of these but especially the last one. The feathers are beautifully layered which shows off the brown and tan colors. Thanks for this beautiful series of photos. Thanks for getting up so early so that I can enjoy your photos every day.
It was an early morning for me this morning, Alice. Up at 3:15 so I could get this post done and leave here at 5 so I could be on-site at dawn which in that area comes at 6:30. A nap is definitely in my very near future but I had a good morning with birds so it was all worth it!
How nice to find a beautiful, sticky bird. The warm light really jumped out at me in the first shot. I had to go back and look at the photo with the cow again, because I was so focused on the Owl that I never saw the cow first time around. Love your t-shirt idea.
I’m seriously considering having a few of those t-shirts made, Susan.
They’re all wonderful — and what a great piece of wood the owl is perched on, all to to complement his shape & colors. Beautiful!
I like that fence post too, Chris. A lot. Sadly, this morning I noticed that about a mile of old weathered wood posts in the area have now been replaced with new metal posts and shiny new wire. Dammit – I hate “progress” sometimes!
Noooooooo! Humans want things to be tidy and new. DURGH!
I love this series of a favorite bird…I especially like the way the bird and perch seem to meld into one vertical unit…the “stripes” of the bird continuing down to merge with the “stripes”( twisted splits) of the wooden post. the background, lighting, even the foggy sillouette of the passing cow, are harmonious and add something special to these images…
Interesting observations about the images, Patty. Thank you for providing them.
What an exquisite series. My favorite is when he’s checking you out. I always hear something like, “Yeah, what?”
I’m so glad to have my Internet connection back again. Your photos are always such a lovely welcome to my day.
Laura, I know what a pain in the pooper it is to lose internet. In the last three days I’ve had local outages twice and had to replace my modem once. Hopefully it’s all behind me now, at least for a while.
Internet connections are a challenge in rural areas. Part of the cost of living in quiet among the critters 🙂 I’m mostly lost without Internet and it’s too darn hot to go outside here. LOL!
Beautiful shots of a beautiful bird! My favorite is the 1st.
Thank you, Joanne.
The cow is my favorite part!
🙂
Beautiful series Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Great shots as usual. One could have fun captioning each picture.
Probably he is used to your truck? Love to believe that birds of prey can associate what they see into memory. It would be so much easier to anthropomorphize the captions! VBG!
Dick, I think sometimes birds do “get used to” my truck specifically. I doubt it’s happening with these owls though.
Beautiful light and captures. What a gorgeous creature!
Thank you, Cindy.
Wonderful series, Ron 🙂 Glad he cooperated other than not moving. The cows eye looks “weird” but is definitely there! I know the GHO parents stay involved for a long time – most of the summer in fact.
Judy, this morning it looked the adults were still hunting for the young SEO’s but they’re making them work harder to get the voles. Sounds like good, stepped training.
What a wonderful way the start the day! Thanks, Ron!
Glad to hear it, Diane.