![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/short-eared-owl-7695-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"short-eared-owl-7695-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nIn\u00a0flight, no less.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I’d been photographing this male Short-eared Owl\u00a0fighting with another male over a female and breeding territory in\u00a0Montana’s Centennial valley when I took this shot. Here he’s cruising just above ground level and in hot pursuit of the other male who’s high-tailing it away. This photo is over 8 years old so I can’t believe I’d never noticed\u00a0a couple of things that are\u00a0unique and more than a little peculiar\u00a0about it until last night.<\/p>\n The\u00a0left wing is so perfectly aligned with the\u00a0right wing behind it that\u00a0we’d never know the right one was there. At first I wondered if the right wing might be in a near-horizontal position which would make it much easier to be hidden by the base of the left wing and the body. But look carefully –\u00a0at the tip of the wing we can see just a few millimeters of two primaries of the right wing peeking back at us. So that wing is also in a vertical position and almost perfectly hidden in all directions by the other wing.<\/p>\n But the visual magic doesn’t end there because\u00a0the same thing is true of the two legs. The right one is completely hidden by the left one. On close inspection the only evidence I can see of the right extremity is an extra talon or two on the foot.<\/p>\n I don’t believe I’ve ever taken another photo of a bird in flight where this effect was pulled off\u00a0so well. Except for the horizontal spread of its tail the owl looks to be two-dimensional only.<\/p>\n I enjoy meaningless but interesting stuff like this in my photos.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Notes: <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In flight, no less.<\/p>\n\n