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There were two male owls competing for a lone female.\u00a0 The males would\u00a0occasionally “sky dance” for the female on the ground.\u00a0 This is a behavior where the male flies over the female and performs exaggerated wingbeats, often clapping the wingtips loudly on\u00a0the down-beat.\u00a0 I heard that clapping multiple times as the male flew too\u00a0high overhead for decent shots.\u00a0 Here he’s much lower with the wings in\u00a0the exaggerated\u00a0“up” position.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The competing male would usually watch the performance of its competitor\u00a0from the ground.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Usually one male would attack the other while it was on the ground.\u00a0 Here the bird has seen the attacking male coming in and has assumed a defensive position.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is the next frame in the burst.\u00a0 Occasionally they strike each other and lock talons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Other times the attacking male doesn’t come quite so close when the other bird is in an effective defensive position.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n More often than not the bird on the ground will jump into the air to present its talons to the attacking owl.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here the defensive bird is preparing to jump up to meet its attacker.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sometimes their combat is aerial.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This owl has its eye on the other male coming in for a strafing run.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here the owl on the upper left has “buzzed” the other bird in the air.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bird on the right has popped up out of the grasses to meet its attacker.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is a weird shot but it appeals to me for some reason.\u00a0 The bird on the ground watches as its tormentor passes by after a strafing run.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bird on the right passes by as the other owl returns to the ground after presenting its talons in an upside down position in the air.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the few relatively close shots I got of either combatant during these maneuvers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This owl has presented its talons to the incoming bird.\u00a0 You can just barely see its wingtip as it passes by\u00a0in the upper right corner.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the next frame the defensive owl begins to right itself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another strafing run.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’ve posted this shot before but I wanted to include it here to provide context for the next (and last)\u00a0image.\u00a0 When the bird on the ground jumps up from the ground and presents its talons in defense, you sometimes get some pretty bizarre body positions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"short](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/short-eared-owl-7549-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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