![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/short-eared-owl-7176-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"short-eared-owl-7176-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAn owl in flight in low light and he’s still sharp. I must have been doing something right.<\/p>\n
Long time followers of Feathered Photography will remember that back in June of 2010 I spent several days with a family of nesting Short-eared Owls in Montana’s Centennial Valley.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This is the adult male delivering a vole to his family at their nest at the base of a sagebrush way out of frame to the left. In the past I’ve posted several photos similar to this one but this particular photo is new to my blog.<\/p>\n It was an ideal situation for both me and the owls because I had many opportunities to photograph the male in flight with prey without getting anywhere near the nest. Typically, I would watch him hunting up to about 1\/4 mile away and when he caught a vole he would always<\/em><\/span> fly to one of two low perches, either a single vertical metal post or a particular sagebrush, and land on it with the vole. While perched he would transfer the vole from his talons to his bill and then take off with it toward the nest. It was always during that last flight, from one of the two low perches to the nest, that I had an opportunity to photograph him with prey at a reasonably close distance to me but still far away from the nest.<\/p>\n I believe that this photo was taken during my first of three days with him because he’s watching me as he flies. After the first morning he got so used to me in my pickup he seldom even looked my way. The shooting conditions were challenging because it was usually cloudy so the light was low for flight shots using my old Canon 7D. But I had lots of chances over three days so I was able to get quite a few flight shots I like.<\/p>\n In 14 years of photographing birds, my encounters with this male Shortie were some of my most memorable with any bird of any species. I’ll never forget him or the experience.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An owl in flight in low light and he’s still sharp. I must have been doing something right.<\/p>\n