{"id":48107,"date":"2017-05-09T05:08:43","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T11:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=48107"},"modified":"2017-05-09T05:08:43","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T11:08:43","slug":"short-eared-owl-in-flight-with-prey-and-at-the-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/09\/short-eared-owl-in-flight-with-prey-and-at-the-nest\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-eared Owl In Flight With Prey And At The Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><em>Occasionally I recycle a favorite older post because very few current readers have ever seen it. I published this one on February 19, 2012 and I believe the images were taken in the early summer of 2011 (no time to look it up right now). I&#8217;ve rewritten some of the text and cleaned up the formatting. Some of the images\u00a0are slightly oversharpened &#8211; back then my processing skills were somewhat lacking.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In previous posts about\u00a0this Short-eared Owl pair\u00a0at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in sw Montana\u00a0I&#8217;ve shown and described snippets of the fascinating behaviors I observed when this male\u00a0would deliver voles to the female and two youngsters at the nest. But it struck me that\u00a0I&#8217;ve never put the whole process together\u00a0in sequence so the behaviors\u00a0could be fully appreciated so that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ll attempt to do here. Most of the images\u00a0will be different from those in the previous posts though some will be similar.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4333\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7148\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7148\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4333 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7148 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7148\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7148-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The male was a tireless and highly skilled hunter and I never saw him with any prey other than voles. When successful he would nearly\u00a0always return to the vicinity of the nest and land momentarily on one of two favorite perches &#8211; the darker sagebrush at lower right in the above photo or a metal post a few feet from the sagebrush. Here he&#8217;s coming in for a landing on the sagebrush with a\u00a0vole in his\u00a0talons and glancing up at me to make sure all is safe. I really like the intense direct eye contact.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4331\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7153\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7153\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4331 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7153 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7153\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Now he&#8217;s focused on the sagebrush in order to make a successful landing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4334\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7159\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7159\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4334 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7159 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7159\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7159-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This time he stayed perched for less than five seconds and didn&#8217;t even pull his wings in against his body &#8211; he just kept them out or up while he seemed to contemplate his next move.\u00a0And I knew what that next move would be because he always did the same thing &#8211; transfer the vole from talons to beak either just before or during take-off to deliver the vole to his family at the nest. The nest is at the base of another sagebrush to the left of the sagebrush\u00a0and perhaps\u00a070 yards\u00a0out of the frame.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4336\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7160\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7160\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4336 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7160\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7160\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7160-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He glanced my way once again&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4337\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7164\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7164\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4337 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7164 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7164\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7164-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>1\/1250, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0and in\u00a0a single fluid motion he took off and transferred the vole from talons to beak.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4339\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7175\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,590\" 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-7175\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4339 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7175 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7175\" width=\"900\" height=\"590\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175-150x98.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7175-400x262.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Liftoff and headed toward his mate and two youngsters at the nest.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4340\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/shore-eared-owl-7649\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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=\"shore-eared-owl-7649\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4340 size-full\" title=\"shore-eared-owl-7649 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649.jpg\" alt=\"shore-eared-owl-7649\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/shore-eared-owl-7649-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 640,\u00a0500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This is\u00a0when things get a little dicey for the male because delivering the vole to the female is a scary proposition (I&#8217;ll try to avoid being excessively\u00a0anthropomorphic but it won&#8217;t be easy). Here he&#8217;s\u00a0quite close to the nest entrance and as he approaches she becomes\u00a0aggressive and he&#8217;s obviously\u00a0wary of her.\u00a0He&#8217;s timid and cautious in his approach &#8211; after all, due to sexual dimorphism she&#8217;s about 20%\u00a0larger than he is in body mass.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4342\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7651\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7651\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4342 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7651 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7651\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7651-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 640,\u00a0500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When he gets close to the nest\u00a0the female aggressively\u00a0rushes out at him and he instantly drops the vole and doesn&#8217;t make eye contact (as she does in an intimidating manner). Usually he\u00a0would then\u00a0fly\u00a0off immediately but this time he timidly\u00a0stood his ground. The vole is in the grass directly between their faces but the female just glares at him, seeming to dare him to make a move toward the vole he&#8217;s just dropped.\u00a0 This time he backed\u00a0out before flying off and then she grabbed the vole and took it back into the nest and the two chicks.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4343\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owls-8124\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-owls-8124\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4343 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-8124 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owls-8124\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owls-8124-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500,\u00a0500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I only got a good look at one of the youngsters this one time over several days of photographing them, though it was obvious there were two chicks in the nest. You&#8217;ll notice from the light and my camera settings that this is one of the few times the sun came out while I was photographing these owls so it&#8217;s my suspicion that she brought the youngster out into the sun to catch a few warming rays.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4345\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7660\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7660\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4345 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7660 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7660\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7660-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 640,\u00a0500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is the other &#8220;favorite perch&#8221; of the male &#8211; an ugly metal post that served no apparent purpose on the refuge.\u00a0 I&#8217;m glad that he seemed to like the sagebrush as well as he did the post. Here he&#8217;s just landing after returning from one of his rare unsuccessful hunting forays.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4346\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/19\/short-eared-owl-delivering-food-to-the-nest\/short-eared-owl-7626\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" 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-7626\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4346 size-full\" title=\"short-eared-owl-7626 ron dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626.jpg\" alt=\"short-eared-owl-7626\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7626-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 640,\u00a0500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But far\u00a0more often than not he had a vole with him when he landed on either perch. In this shot he&#8217;s already transferred the vole to his beak\u00a0and is about to take off for the nest (and yes, that&#8217;s a bee on the left flying toward the owl).<\/p>\n<p>Preparing this post has brought back a flood of wonderful memories of my times with these owls. Hopefully there&#8217;ll be more of them in the relatively\u00a0near future.<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note***<\/strong> <em>I&#8217;d like to make it clear that I was very careful not to disturb these birds in any way.\u00a0 I was shooting from a road\u00a0from inside my pickup with a supertelephoto lens (effectively at 1120 mm with the tc and crop factor of the 7D and these images have been significantly cropped)\u00a0and I never once got out of my pickup anywhere near the nest.\u00a0The owls were acclimated to vehicles on the road and they never seemed disturbed by my presence. If they had been\u00a0I&#8217;d have left the area. And as always\u00a0there was no baiting or setting up\u00a0involved.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Regular readers probably get tired of hearing that message but I think it&#8217;s important to include for novice bird photographers and those who are new to my blog.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This male Short-eared Owl was a super-efficient hunter and provider for his family. <\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/09\/short-eared-owl-in-flight-with-prey-and-at-the-nest\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4331,"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":false,"_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":[334,16,392,391,360,356],"tags":[35,740,126,146,220,228,256,263,279,315],"class_list":["post-48107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-birds","category-photography-ethics","category-feeding-bird-behaviors","category-nesting-and-mating","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge-favorite-locations","category-short-eared-owls","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-chicks","tag-ethics","tag-flight","tag-montana-2","tag-nest","tag-prey","tag-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-short-eared-owl","tag-vole"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/short-eared-owl-7153.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-cvV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48107","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=48107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}