{"id":24937,"date":"2014-07-08T05:21:24","date_gmt":"2014-07-08T11:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=24937"},"modified":"2014-07-08T05:21:24","modified_gmt":"2014-07-08T11:21:24","slug":"short-eared-owl-pushing-off-with-his-talon-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/08\/short-eared-owl-pushing-off-with-his-talon-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owl Pushing Off With His Talon-tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

On our Montana trips I’m always looking for Short-eared Owls but sadly, unlike just a few years ago when they were relatively abundant,\u00a0they’re\u00a0virtually nonexistent in the Centennial Valley these days.\u00a0 I’m pretty much convinced their absence is largely due to all\u00a0the cattle (mostly yearlings who are the juvenile delinquents of the bovine world and they really tore up the place) that were allowed to graze Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge a couple of years ago.\u00a0 The sagebrush\u00a0habitat used by the owls for nesting at the west end of the refuge was devastated.\u00a0\u00a0 I’m not a fan of cattle on public lands for a variety of reasons but that’s another long and complicated\u00a0story…<\/p>\n

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\"short-eared<\/a><\/p>\n

1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500. Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So last week while I was up there I had pretty much accepted the fact that I wouldn’t see any owls and as expected\u00a0I didn’t see any\u00a0on the refuge or in the Centennial Valley, though I looked very\u00a0hard for them.<\/p>\n

But one morning along semi-abandoned old Highway 91 on the border between Montana and Idaho and a little southeast of the refuge\u00a0I encountered two of them hunting along that old road that I have many memories of as a kid before the freeway was put in.\u00a0 Both birds were\u00a0actively hunting as they flew for a minute or two and then repeatedly\u00a0landed on some of the very old fence posts lining the road.\u00a0 They were usually side-lit while perched but this one turned\u00a0a couple of degrees to its left as it took off – just enough to nicely light up the bird\u00a0against the dark background.<\/p>\n

I like the timing of this shot with the tips of the talons barely touching the post as the owl pushes off.<\/p>\n

Based on the relatively light colors both dorsally and ventrally (that I mostly noticed in other images)\u00a0I believe this owl was a male but\u00a0there’s some overlap in plumage color\u00a0and these owls are not reliably sexed by plumage.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0If you’d like to see\u00a0what the\u00a0Short-eared Owl\u00a0situation\u00a0on the refuge was like before the cows were allowed to graze\u00a0you may be interesting in checking out the following older posts:<\/em><\/p>\n