{"id":39739,"date":"2016-05-24T05:04:49","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T11:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=39739"},"modified":"2016-05-24T07:54:02","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T13:54:02","slug":"short-eared-owl-throwing-up-a-pellet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/24\/short-eared-owl-throwing-up-a-pellet\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owl Throwing Up A Pellet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning in northern Utah this Short-eared Owl\u00a0had a surprise waiting\u00a0for me and it came at an unexpected moment.<\/p>\n

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

1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here the owl is landing on a fence post with a vole it had just captured.<\/p>\n

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1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost immediately after landing\u00a0the bird began to\u00a0retch. Usually when I photograph birds throwing pellets it’s when they’ve been perched and resting for a while and this one had freshly caught prey that was still alive\u00a0to deal with so I certainly didn’t expect to see pre pellet-casting\u00a0behavior before the owl had dispatched the vole. Those little guys can, and often do, bite. Rodent teeth are definitely to be avoided if at all possible.<\/p>\n

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

1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

But sure enough, out came a pellet. Based on its trajectory I believe it hit the edge of the post…<\/p>\n

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

1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

before falling to the ground.<\/p>\n

Some factoids about pellet casting in Short-eared Owls:<\/p>\n