![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/short-eared-owl-6268b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"short-eared-owl-6268b-ron-dudley\\"")
1\/640, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\nI had been photographing this bird in June three years ago as (s)he hunted from a post near the Montana\/Idaho border when he suddenly flew to the ground right in front of me in obvious pursuit of prey – probably a vole. He was so close to me I had to remove my teleconverter to keep all of him in frame. As reflected by my camera settings he was in deep, early morning shade so I didn’t have high hopes for the many photos I took of him but in the end I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them.<\/p>\n
This bird was actively hunting as (s)he desperately tried to locate the vole it had apparently seen or heard amongst all the twigs on the ground. He kept turning his head in different directions as he used all his senses to come up with a meal but when it eventually became evident that his efforts would be fruitless he gave up and flew off to another perch.<\/p>\n
As I reviewed photos of this bird for today’s post many wonderful memories of my Montana camping trips came flooding back. Thanks to my recent surgery for the first time in almost two years I have reasonable hopes of getting my old life back again, including camping trips to Montana.<\/p>\n
There’s some optimism in this old pessimist after all.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The owl knew there was a vole nearby but he was having a devil of a time locating it.<\/p>\n