![\"barn](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/barn-owl-8212-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEarlier this week I spent 59 minutes with this Barn Owl (a male I believe).\u00a0 This\u00a0 is early in the encounter when he was still getting used to me.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/640, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 100-400 @ 365mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Barn Owls are difficult to predict.\u00a0\u00a0Often they’re very shy (when you can find them at all)\u00a0but this one was mostly unconcerned with my presence (in my pickup).\u00a0 Here he’s watching me calmly to make sure I’m no threat.\u00a0 He was right next to the road and very close – you can see from my techs that I’m even using my “baby lens” and shooting at only 365mm.\u00a0 It was cloudy and the light was relatively dim but I believe that was a major factor in his relative “tameness”.\u00a0 In addition there were virtually no other cars on the road for the entire hour so this wonderful\u00a0owl\u00a0simply went about his business.\u00a0 That business was hunting and he\u00a0was very good at it as I\u00a0observed him catch 3 or\u00a04 voles\/mice\u00a0during the time I was with him. (recently I posted photos of this bird with prey here<\/strong><\/a> in case you missed it)<\/p>\n This bird was mostly hunting from the ground using his incredible hearing to detect rodents beneath the snow.\u00a0 When he heard something he’d typically\u00a0fly the short distance to the source of the sound and plunge his feet or his face into the soft snow.\u00a0 Very often he turned up a meal.\u00a0 He was patient and deliberate in his technique so most of the time there wasn’t much action to photograph but it felt very special just to be in his presence and to be accepted.<\/p>\n This owl was thriving but every time I see a cold snap in the weather forecast I worry.\u00a0 With all the snow on the ground and the warmer days we’re now having, when daytime highs\u00a0turn significantly below freezing there will be an enduring hard crust on the surface of the snow.\u00a0 When that happens these birds struggle to catch voles under the snow just at the time their demands for food increase because of the bitter cold.<\/p>\n Survival for these birds\u00a0during our northern Utah winters is often a crap shoot.\u00a0 I wish them (and us)\u00a0moderate weather.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier this week I spent 59 minutes with this Barn Owl (a male I believe). This is early in the encounter when he was still getting used to me.<\/p>\n