Hangin' With the Owls

Cheri, my friend, neighbor, and photography mentor is a fabulous wildlife photographer.  One of her favorite subjects is owls.  She's a pro at catching these magnificent birds in flight, and always knows where to find them.  

A short eared owl looking my way

During the winter months, short eared owls migrate to the Pacific Northwest and frequent wide open grassy fields to hunt.  Cheri had been visiting a nearby natural area where the "shorties" (as she and her photography buddies have adorably nicknamed them) could be seen in abundance.  She posted some amazing images of these beautiful owls in flight.  I started having owl envy.  So I asked Cheri if I could tag along on her next outing.

Sitting atop a fence post

I'd visited this particular natural area many times before and didn't have a good track record when it came to spotting owls.  In the past, every time I accompanied Cheri here the owls either didn't appear or were so far away it made photography challenging.  I joked to Cheri that my presence was bad luck for seeing short eared owls.  But Cheri was determined to find some owls that I could photograph and encouraged me not to give up.

Time to go!

So one afternoon in early January Cheri and I traveled to the local natural area where the short eared owls hung out.  Since the "shorties" (and most other owl species) began hunting near dusk, we wanted to be in place well before sunset.

Another liftoff - look at those legs!

Bird sighting news travels fast among the local wildlife photographer community and when we arrived there were at least a couple dozen other people scattered about the field, large lenses in tow.

A flyby

At first there was no owl action to be seen.  But after about an hour of waiting, someone spotted the first shortie fly-by.  Soon after three different owls could be seen soaring above the grassy fields.

"Enough with the pictures!"

The owls weren't flying close to where Cheri and I were at.  Some of the photographers started to walk closer towards the field where the owls were hunting.  Although it was tempting to follow them, Cheri encouraged me to stay put.  After many days of visiting this location, she knew that the shorties would eventually fly closer to where we stood.  Besides, it seemed about the time one walked over to where the owls were, the little buggers would fly off somewhere else - usually the place you'd originally been waiting!

Looking for dinner

Cheri, of course, was right.  Eventually the little owls began soaring over the fields closer to where she and I were stationed.  Then two of the birds started to circle a marshy area behind us.  One of the owls kept landing on a nearby fence post.  A couple of people waded through the water to get a closer vantage.

In flight

I couldn't stand it any longer and followed the other photographers through the swampy field to be closer to the owl's flight patterns.  It turned out to be an excellent decision.  Two short eared owls kept flying around the field directly adjacent to the fence.  One particular owl kept landing on the same post.

Flying near the water

Having not captured moving birds for awhile, my photography skills were quite rusty.  At first my ratio of in-focus shots to blurry misses was quite dismal.  But with a bit of practice eventually I was able to get a few keepers.

Some close flight pics

The bright sunlight made photography a bit challenging, especially when the owls flew directly into the sun.  Since I shoot in manual mode, I was forever making exposure adjustments.  (Note to self - start experimenting with aperture and shutter priority modes.)

One of my faves

After a good half hour of watching the two shorties soar back and forth across the field, one owl flew straight at myself and the two other photographers who were beside me.  It soared right over our heads!  I was awed by the quiet, smooth flight of this beautiful bird.  The close owl encounter was quite amazing - a definite highlight of the day.

Wings spread out

With dark fast approaching, I waded back across the marshy field to meet up with Cheri.  From her spot she'd also had great views of the short eared owls soaring across the field.  She even captured images of an owl and harrier fighting in flight.  It had been a most successful afternoon!

Crusin'

Short eared owls are medium sized birds, usually about the size of a crow or mallard duck.  They get their name from small tufts of feathers on their heads, resembling ears.  These tufts are small enough they are often not visible.  Short eared owls have large heads, short necks, broad wings, and adorable black-rimmed yellow eyes.  They fly low over fields using floppy wingbeats, often looking like giant moths.  Shorties live in open grassland areas throughout the world and feed mainly on rodents.

A cute chipping sparrow

I'm happy to report that my short eared owl curse has now been lifted.  I came away from that photo session with many images of these gorgeous birds in flight.  Hope you've enjoyed my photo gallery!