A chubby owl carrying a chubby vole to the nest.
I’m rapidly becoming weary of snow so this morning I reached back into my archives for a couple of photos with some green in them, plus an interesting bird of course. I needed the respite from white.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I spent several days photographing this male Short-eared Owl as he fed his family at their nest in Montana’s Centennial Valley. This bird was almost as addicted to routine as I am as he nearly always followed the same modus operandi – he would capture a vole somewhere far away in the sagebrush flats (sometimes I could see him and sometimes I couldn’t) and carry it in his talons to one of two perches, a particular sagebrush or more often this metal post in the general vicinity of the nest.
He had a singular purpose for this intermediate stop – to transfer the vole from his talons to his bill before delivering it to the female and two youngsters at the nest at the base of a sagebrush far out of frame to my left. It’s something he always did, without exception (see my reply to Shoreacres below for my theory as to why).
Did you notice the bee approaching the owl from the left? I’m sure the owl was aware of it but he didn’t care.
1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Many of my flight shots of him over several days were taken as he flew between the post and the nest and this is one of them. It isn’t the same vole as in the previous photo but most of the voles seemed to be larger and fatter than I’m used to seeing down here in Utah – perhaps because the grass was so lush or maybe they’re different species of voles. In this photo at least the owl looks a little portly too.
The skies were usually overcast on that Montana trip so I was nearly always struggling to get sufficient shutter speed for flight shots with my older Canon 7D that I never liked to push over ISO 800 for fear of getting too much noise in my images. As a result I got a lot of soft shots that I deleted but I was still able to get quite a few I like very much.
Ron
A note about our recent storm here in the Salt Lake Valley for those who may be interested. It’s being called a “massive” snowstorm for our area and it’s supposed to continue through this morning. I estimate that I’ve had about 13 -14″ at my home so far, though it’s light snow and it quickly settled to somewhat less than that. As of last night the storm combined with careless drivers caused 471 vehicle accidents (including an 11 car pileup on I-15); schools, some universities and government services were closed as were nearby canyons and ski resorts. The airport stayed open but some flights were delayed because of de-icing operations.
This is the first time schools have been closed in the valley because of snow for twenty years.
It’s been a record-breaking 24 hour snowfall for February 6 so it will give the disappearing Great Salt Lake a much-needed drink.
Ron, I give a lot of credit to that Owl Dad for his patience. I found your comments about the Vole and Owl being chubby…quite true. I guess he gets a chance to get some food between his deliveries to the Mother Owl. Not sure why she and other animals are so aggressive towards their mates, but guess we can only speculate. We humans have some peculiar behaviors as well.
As for snow, we are so fortunate to finally get some moisture. We have at least a foot in our yard and the sunshine this afternoon makes the snow sparkle so beautifully. More is forecast for next week. The skier in my household is quite thrilled with all of this.
Thank you and hope you are feeling better.
I felt kind of sorry for him, Alice. He worked his butt off to keep his family fed but she sure didn’t treat him very well (by our standards).
I agree, it was beautiful when the sun came out on all that snow.
I can understand wanting to see green lol. We have had a lot of rain here in Calif. The sun is out today, woo hoo. Love both pictures. You even captured a Bee in the first pic.
I sure did, Jean. Thanks.
I do love this diligent parent/hunter (who it seems takes time to munch on the way).
And hooray for anything which raises the level of the Great Salt Lake.
No kidding, EC. We need that water badly. But even if we get it in there the politicians and the industrialists will just piss it all away…
Politicians (and their cronies) are the same the world over, and believe that water management and profit are not in conflict. We are having a water scandal and huge fish deaths for very similar reasons. Hiss and spit.
Learned a lot, as ever. That stare in the earlier post you linked to was intense. I can’t think of anything I would enjoy eating day after day like the voles these owls eat (perhaps donuts?). Nevertheless, mom and dad owl appear to be very dedicated parents, if not particularly affectionate towards each other. Hmm, where have I seen that before?
I agree about that stare, Lyle – it’s intense to the max. Reminds me of one I used to get from my ex (yes, we’re still friends).
Wonderful series, Ron! And glad to hear that you’re finally getting the precipitation that your region needs.
Thanks, Diane. I hope we get more snow in the next few weeks (did I just say that?) to build up the snowpack and then we DON’T get an unusually warm spell in the late spring to bring the floods. In the moisture department we’ve got some major catching up to do.
When I saw the first shot, I wondered if he was the “henpecked” — or “owlpecked’, in this case — husband from earlier posts. It’s good to see shots of him again. I have a special fondness for the guy. 😘
Glad you’re getting some snowpack up there. Our snow level dropped enough for hubby’s brother to be snowed in for a few days up in the mountains. They get snow, but not this much. Fortunately, the weekend rain has left the forecast, so my moat (still waiting for the dragon and the drawbridge to show up) can dry up before we get hit again midweek.
Yup, this is him, Marty. And obviously I share your fondness.
Oh joy, if you’re getting hit again we probably will too, with the same storm.
“Oh joy, if you’re getting hit again we probably will too, with the same storm.”
Sorry about that — still: NO SHOVELING! 😉
have you ever seen a downey woodpecker with a red tail feather underneath the tail??
No.
Wonderful photos, as usual, and great news about the snowfall. Love your observation of the bee. I might have missed it otherwise.
Nancy, little surprises like that bee are part of the reason I scrutinize my photos pretty carefully. Even when they have no other positive attributes some images can have dandy little surprises.
Beautiful and a peaceful setting. I now think I have the proper attitude to go out and deal with more snow. This is how I remember winters in Idaho where I grew up. My crocus are wondering what happened. They have been coming up for a couple of weeks.
Thanks, Betty. I see blue sky in the west!
Beautiful shots Ron. What could be beautiful about brown and white, but the colors are beautiful. Neat seeing the one wing outside and the other inside. Very interesting too your description of his food delivery and the reactions of the female. Probably angry at him for taking too long to provide for the youngsters.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Everett, once she actually WAS “angry at him” for being late with the meal. I could hear her calling to him from the nest (which she had never done before while I was there) while he was on the post with a vole and she was obviously aware that he had it. He took longer than usual to deliver it so she flew over to him and took it away, then took it to her chicks.
Needless to say I never saw him be late with a delivery again…
Love both of these photos…the colors are so appealing. The soft interruptions of perhaps boulders in the background really gives a pleasant feel to the photos. AND…how nice to catch a ‘photo-bombing’ bee! You must have been surprised to see that when you opened the photo…it’s happened to me and it always brings a smile. What would we do without voles…they are such a good food source. I sure do miss these birds. I’m not sure of the reasons why they seem to be ‘AWOL’ this year but I’ve only seen them twice since mid-October which was very early and then again about a month ago. Their usual marsh area remains quite flooded in certain spots so I image voles are not as available. Then we have the hunter factor; they seemed more prevalent this year. Some are still running their dogs in the area. At any rate RoughLegged Hawks have become quite prevalent; I see them in force on all my outings.
Thank you, Kathy. This species is unusually nomadic so I experience the same thing – some years they’re common in certain areas on others they’re MIA.
Those “soft interruptions” are actually clumps of sagebrush. SEOW’s love sagebrush habitat out west – they’re not sagebrush obligates but they certainly like it in their nesting territory.
That would be fun!
Last year with our move to S. Arizona we missed our annual trip to SW Montana. My wife went thru fly fishing withdrawals and I missed the concentration of immature red tails and the antics of the immature bald eagles when we could find them. Looking forward to getting back up there and also spending some time in the Centennial Valley. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to see some of these guys. Just for fun checked to weather in Alder to see whether they got some of your snow. Apparently not, but the temp this AM is -11. Too cold for me!
Who knows, Frank. Maybe you and I will bump into each other up there sometime.
I never tire of owl shots, Ron! 🙂 Beautiful photo’s… 🙂 Those are good sized voles! GHO’s are “talking” in the yard this morning – hopeful thy will nest in the yard this year. -32 this morning – don’t know about “chill”…….. 🙁 Our snow has been light so doubt there is much moisture in it which we certainly could use! “Green” a MOST welcome site this morning… 🙂
Thank you, Judy. Yes, you of all people would appreciate some shades of green this morning. It was 19° here when I got up – fairly cold for us.
Just yesterday, I read about voles on a British blog. Now, seeing this, I realized I knew nothing about voles, so I looked them up, and discovered they’re all around me here in Texas. The detail about the talon-transfer is interesting, but it makes sense. Trying to land while a couple of over-eager youngsters try to pull a vole out of your feet could be problematic!
Shoreacres, I have my own theory about why the male always transferred the vole to his beak before delivering it to the nest. It was his mate (not the youngsters) who always received the vole and she was extremely threatening to him as he came in with it. I witnessed the transfer twice and both times she came out of the nest (that I couldn’t actually see) and was very aggressive toward him. And his reaction to being so close to her was timid and submissive.
With the vole in his bill instead of his talons he didn’t have to get quite so close to her before he dropped it in front of her and it wouldn’t stick in his talons when he tried to release it. In his situation I’d have done the same – she always looked like she’d rip his head off if he made a wrong move…
That’s even more interesting than my theory. The private life of birds is as fascinating as their appearance is beautiful!
For those who may be interested the transfer from talons to bill, the delivery of the vole to the female and youngsters at the nest and the aggressiveness of the female can all be seen in this older post. For those who visit that post please read my last paragraph about not approaching nests.
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2017/05/09/short-eared-owl-in-flight-with-prey-and-at-the-nest/
We have seen this same behaviour with foxes and owls. The male brings in the food and almost has to throw it at the female and run away in fear. I think it is a way to protect the young as the males of some species will harm the young to force the female to breed again.
Could be with this species too, Roger, although “both sexes may defend young in nest and as pre-fledged dispersers, but this behavior varies among individuals” (from Cornell). But just because the male might defend them doesn’t necessarily preclude the possibility you suggest.