{"id":45896,"date":"2017-02-14T05:57:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T12:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=45896"},"modified":"2017-02-14T06:10:05","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:10:05","slug":"short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/14\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owls Defending Their Nest Against Predators"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><em>Occasionally I recycle one of my earliest posts because I had very few viewers back then and few of my current blog followers have ever seen them. This one was published on July 7, 2011. For this &#8220;edition&#8221; I&#8217;ve revised much of the text and changed the formatting.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Recent reports from others indicate that bird activity on Antelope Island is slowing down now and\u00a0my experience out there recently would agree with that assessment so yesterday when I was trying to decide where to go shooting birds\u00a0I was a little hesitant about another trip to the island. But even with things slowing down\u00a0I almost never fail to find something interesting to photograph\u00a0there and yesterday was no exception.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2337\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3157\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"809,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3157\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2337 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3157\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3157\" width=\"809\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157.jpg 809w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157-269x300.jpg 269w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157-134x150.jpg 134w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3157-400x444.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 809px) 100vw, 809px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/800, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Soon after arriving on the island I noticed two\u00a0Short-eared Owls and based on their behavior they were obviously a mated pair.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2338\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3155\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,668\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3155\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2338 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3155\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3155\" width=\"900\" height=\"668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155-150x111.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3155-400x296.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/1000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This one was carrying a vole and\u00a0I immediately suspected that the pair had a nest in the vicinity, which turned out to be true.\u00a0The nest\u00a0was quite a distance from the road and buried in vegetation but\u00a0I could tell roughly\u00a0where it was by watching this owl repeatedly\u00a0deliver food to the nest site &#8211; either to the mate or to both the mate and chicks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I watched and photographed the birds for a while but when things slowed down I drove to another area of the island.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2340\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3430\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,692\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3430\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2340 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3430\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430-300x230.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430-150x115.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3430-400x307.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/1600, f\/8, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When I returned to the area of the nest\u00a0I immediately saw a quickly-developing drama. A young coyote was approaching the nest area and the owls were in a frenzy trying to drive the coyote off by diving on it and making quite a ruckus.\u00a0The unusually wet spring\u00a0resulted in taller than usual vegetation on the island and the coyote quickly disappeared in all the deep grass and\u00a0sagebrush but\u00a0I could tell where it was simply by watching where the owls were diving on it.\u00a0It continued to approach the nest and the owls became frantic in its defense.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here the male is beginning one of his many\u00a0dives on the coyote.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2341\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3283\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,689\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3283\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2341 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3283\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3283\" width=\"900\" height=\"689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283-150x114.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283-400x306.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/1000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Both birds dive-bombed the coyote repeatedly for the roughly 15 minutes it was in the area but\u00a0I almost never actually saw the coyote after it left the area of the road and continued up the hill toward the nest.\u00a0In this photo the coyote must have been within only a few feet of the nest. The action was so fast and furious that I made a conscious effort to fire off shots as one of the owls was at the bottom of a dive in hopes I&#8217;d get lucky and\u00a0catch\u00a0both the owl sharp (difficult to do with the background so close to the bird) and the coyote visible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I got three shots where I could see both an owl and the coyote &#8211; this was the best of the three.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2342\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3553\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,502\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3553\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2342 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3553\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3553\" width=\"900\" height=\"502\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553-150x83.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3553-400x223.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 640,\u00a0500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">After spending quite a while in the area of the nest the coyote eventually wandered toward the crest of the hill where the vegetation wasn&#8217;t as tall so\u00a0I could actually see it.\u00a0By this time\u00a0the coyote had left the general vicinity of the nest\u00a0so this owl was content to perch on the rock and watch as the predator slowly wandered over the crest of the hill and left the immediate vicinity of the nest.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2343\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3554\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,614\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3554\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2343 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3554\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3554\" width=\"900\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554-150x102.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3554-400x272.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">But the other owl couldn&#8217;t resist getting in one last lick.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I don&#8217;t know if the presumed chicks in the nest survived the encounter.\u00a0The coyote was certainly buried in the deep vegetation around the nest long enough\u00a0to have eaten them but I suspect the coyote never found them\u00a0because the parents seemed to relax as soon as the predator was gone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">But their respite didn&#8217;t last long&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2345\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3565\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,630\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3565\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2345 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3565\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3565\" width=\"900\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565-150x105.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3565-400x280.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Soon after the coyote disappeared over the hill\u00a0two Common Ravens came on the scene. Bad timing for the ravens because these owls were already\u00a0pissed off from their encounter with the coyote and they weren&#8217;t about to cut the ravens any slack.\u00a0Here\u00a0an owl with an attitude is approaching a raven from the classic fighter jet position of attack &#8211; below and behind the target.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2348\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3568-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"857,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3568\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2348 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3568\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3568\" width=\"857\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681.jpg 857w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681-285x300.jpg 285w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681-142x150.jpg 142w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-35681-400x420.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 857px) 100vw, 857px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">At the last second the raven turned to defend itself.\u00a0I like how the right eye of the owl is playing peekaboo with the viewer\u00a0between the claws of the raven.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2350\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3569\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"523,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3569\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2350 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3569\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3569\" width=\"523\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569.jpg 523w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569-217x300.jpg 217w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569-108x150.jpg 108w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3569-400x550.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 523px) 100vw, 523px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0Canon 7D, 1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Naturally, in the only shot I got of the actual or very near\u00a0contact, I cut off the right wing of the raven.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Both ravens beat a hasty retreat after this encounter.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2351\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators\/short-eared-owl-3367\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,596\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"short-eared-owl-3367\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2351 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-3367\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-3367\" width=\"900\" height=\"596\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3367-400x264.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Canon 7D, 1\/2000, f\/8, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">They say turnabout is fair play and this one made me laugh. Right in the middle of the\u00a0dogfight with the ravens this Barn Swallow took exception to the presence of the owl and presented a little territorial defense of its own. I wish I&#8217;d had enough depth of field to get the swallow sharp but it was an unexpected event and I was already at f\/8, ISO 640\u00a0so there probably wasn&#8217;t much I could have done about it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I was still glad to get the shot.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ron<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Short-eared Owls defend their nests fearlessly and relentlessly.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/14\/short-eared-owls-defending-their-nest-against-predators-2\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,334,1531,374,394,391,356],"tags":[3285,35,1405,431,93,98,3111,3286,256,279,315],"class_list":["post-45896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island","category-birds","category-common-ravens","category-coyotes","category-fighting-bird-behaviors","category-nesting-and-mating","category-short-eared-owls","tag-antelope-islan","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-attack","tag-barn-swallow","tag-common-raven","tag-coyote","tag-davis-county","tag-defending-nest","tag-prey","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-vole"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/short-eared-owl-3283.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-bWg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164072,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45896\/revisions\/164072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}