So as I was deciding what to post today my\u00a0thoughts kept coming back to young Short-eared Owls as they’re\u00a0growing up without trauma,\u00a0learning life skills and delighting me with their antics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"short-eared](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/short-eared-owl-5221-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/strong><\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Three weeks ago I photographed a pair of sibling, juvenile Short-eared Owls in the same general area (though some miles away) as where\u00a0we found the owl hung up on barbed wire. They were very close to the edge of the road and unconcerned about occasional traffic which always makes me worry for their safety but I couldn’t resist stopping and checking them out. When I did they returned the favor.<\/p>\n Young owls in particular parallax objects they’re interested in and they were very interested in\u00a0my pickup. When they do so they weave and bob their heads in order to receive and process visual and auditory\u00a0depth information and occasionally they\u00a0turn their heads to\u00a0amusing angles. This youngster, perched on tumbleweeds just a few feet\u00a0away from its sibling, seemed to be the most curious of the two.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But its sibling, perched on a dirt pile even closer to the road, was curious too. I didn’t have enough depth of field to get anything but the head sharp but for this behavior the head is the most important part.<\/p>\n I don’t know about you but occasionally this image flip-flops for me.\u00a0Usually I perceive the head of this bird as being tilted to my right (which it is)\u00a0but then it flip-flops to the other direction. It’s probably just me…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/640, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon 7D<\/strong><\/em>, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 153mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I took a few shots with one of my other cameras and my zoom lens so I could show both birds in the same image. I never could catch both birds parallaxing at the same time, though I did come close. Notice how much darker the bird on the right is than its sibling.<\/p>\n I sure enjoyed my encounter with these friendly young owls more than I did\u00a0the one hung up on the fence.<\/p>\n I’ll end on a related personal note. In the last couple of days I’ve received\u00a0news about two people close to me, a good friend and a\u00a0family member I’m close to (neither is\u00a0my daughter Shannon or Mia),\u00a0who have received devastating health diagnoses. I desperately needed some good news to help balance things out a little\u00a0and the improved outlook for the “barbed wire owl” picked up my spirits.<\/p>\n Birds\u00a0to the rescue once again.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Normally it’s my practice to avoid posting the same species two days in a row. But in celebration of the (unexpected) good news about the juvenile Short-eared Owl we rescued from barbed wire two days ago I decided to make an exception. After all, I think we all prefer our owls happy and acting normally rather than hanging from barbed wire and in despair.<\/p>\n![\"short-eared](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/short-eared-owl-5442b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"short-eared](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/short-eared-owl-1253-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n