![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/short-eared-owl-2709b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"short-eared-owl-2709b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAnd some\u00a0speculation about the preferred perches of SEO’s.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Two days ago I had only my second close\u00a0encounter with a Short-eared Owl of the season here in northern Utah. It was my first bird of the morning\u00a0so I\u00a0photographed it only minutes after dawn. I wanted takeoff and flight shots (none of them turned out well)\u00a0so I\u00a0adjusted my settings accordingly in the low light. This slightly hunkered-down pose was the owl’s reaction to a passing vehicle which made the bird a little nervous but it didn’t take off as the vehicle passed.<\/p>\n I don’t know the source of the vegetation on the fence post.\u00a0It may have\u00a0already been on the post when the owl landed there or\u00a0it might have been stuck to the bird (or carried by\u00a0it, which seems less likely but definitely possible) when it landed. I missed the takeoff shots so I\u00a0can only guess but when it landed on another post about a minute later the sprig of dried vegetation wasn’t there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n The owl didn’t give me a lot of pose variety. I used to prefer\u00a0owls looking directly at the viewer\u00a0to highlight\u00a0their big round, colorful eyes but over time my tastes have evolved so I chose to post this photo with the owl looking past me to my left. I think the blood on the old fence post adds interest because its origin was almost certainly raptor prey – perhaps from a vole captured by a Red-tailed Hawk or Swainson’s Hawk that are both common in the area. But it may also have been from prey of this very owl.<\/p>\n Readers know I nearly always prefer natural perches but if their perch of choice is man-made I can certainly live with rustic old wooden\u00a0fence posts like this one. Besides, in areas I shoot at least, this species seldom perches on any elevated perches other than fence posts and I’ve often speculated as to why that’s the case. Other raptors in the area\u00a0land on a variety of perches including power poles, trees, buildings and other vertical structures.<\/p>\n In many years of photographing SEO’s\u00a0in Utah, Montana and Idaho\u00a0I’ve only seen one on a power pole a single time and I don’t recall ever seeing one\u00a0in a\u00a0tree or on a building – they always seem to perch on fence posts (one time it was a fence wire), the ground or very low vegetation like sagebrush or rabbitbrush. They hunt primarily on the wing (rather than from perches like Red-tailed Hawks often do) but\u00a0occasionally I’ve documented them actually\u00a0hunting from fence posts. They even sleep and roost primarily on the ground although they will tree-roost in winter when there’s snow on the ground.<\/p>\n I can only guess why their perches of choice are so low to the ground. Perhaps it’s because they feel vulnerable to larger raptors or even mobbing corvids while they’re on elevated perches…?<\/p>\n Any thoughts on the subject from readers?<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – I should mention a specific SEO that I observed perched high on a wire between power poles several mornings in a row – something I haven’t seen before or since.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And some speculation about the preferred perches of SEO’s.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/short-eared-owl-2737b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"short-eared-owl-2737b-ron-dudley\\"")
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