Short-eared Owl

I had a most wonderful photo session with a Short-eared Owl this afternoon.

Super pic Gary. I've yet to see an owl...would love to, though.

This Owl was such a cooperative model, it posed for a series of 75 pictures.

As I slowly moved in closer, trying to shoot through the branches, the Owl kept staring straight at me. The only time it looked away was when a car passed by on the road. It glanced up at the car for just a second.

The Owl is so well camouflaged, I didn't see it the first time we drove past, even though I stopped and looked for it. It has returned to the same area, where it hunted last winter.

The owl allowed me to approach within 12 feet, before it moved a short distance away, and perched on the airport fence. Notice the ice crystals, which have formed near the nostrils, on each side of the beak.

This message was edited Nov 21, 2008 4:39 PM

This message was edited Nov 21, 2008 5:35 PM

GASP! Just beautiful !!!

Wow....beautiful shots Gary...just amazing! What a gorgeous bird!! How cold is it in AK?

Excellent pics Gary! Congrats on such a great find!

Just fantastic gorgeous pics.

Grasmussen, Thank you for posting the pics of the Short-Eared Owl. I'm certainly no expert when it come to birds but I can ID some and thought I knew of all the owls, that is until now. I'll have to get out my bird book and read up on them as I think they are beautiful. Lee

Thanks for all the nice comments. I really did have fun this afternoon. I get a wonderful sense of satisfaction, on those rare occasions, when I,m able to communicate with a wild creature, that I'm not a threat. I truly feel privileged the Owl allowed me to invade its space, to record these images.
Today was the first sunny day in weeks.
To answer the question about the temperature: This evenings temperature is 14+ F, about -10 C. The day time temperatures are below freezing.

Grasmussen, yes, I share your sentiments about the owl allowing you to invade its space. I think many people don't look at it that way. Good of you to put it that way.
I was born and reared in the Deep South and we are having night temps. in the mid-20's and tonight it is supposed to get to 19degrees and I think that's cold!!! One of my nieces recently moved to MN and I reminded her to get a good, heavy coat but more importantly to dress in layers. I hope she heeds my advice as, she, too, was born and reared here and not used to such very cold weather in MN. It's usually Jan. and Feb. that we really have our cold spells and it's then that we get snow but over the last several years, the snows have gotten fewer and lighter. When I was a kid (I'm now 51), I remember regularly having snows. I dont't know where you were born and reared, of course, but I wonder if you have noticed the same, however, I see you are in Anchorage.
Again, thanks for posting the pics. as it gave me another learning experience. Lee

Wowee, Gary, they're fantastic. What a treat for you and now for us! You say you took 75 shots. You've got to share more of them.

Margaret, I absolutely agree. Lee

Yeah put them all here. I only see Owls at the local wildlife centers.

Those eyes can be intimidating.

Fantastic shots Gary...I am jealous!!

I see lots of captions in Gary's future:

"I am and owl… look deep into my eyes… you WILL obey me… bring me mice…"

LOL Mrs Ed!

Mrs_Ed, you are just too funny. LOL lee

Absolutely fantastic images, Gary! What a glorious bird that is. Please post more when you can.

Barb

Gary, all of the superlatives have already been mentioned. It is truly a great shot and was, I'm sure, a heart-warming experience. I keep telling myself, the more time one spends in the field, the luckier they get. Excellent work !!!

STUNNING!!! I'm awestruck. I would love to see any owl in the daytime, but that one is REALLY spectacular!

Those ice-crystals remind me of my childhood in Alberta. I hated wearing a took or a scarf b/c those crystals would form and scratch my face. Of course, the alternative was frost bite and that wasn't so great either!

Wow, I can't stop looking at these pics -- post more! They are just wonderful!

While I did take 75 pictures, most are vary similar, because the Owl only moved its head slowly to stare straight at me, as I moved in closer. When the Owl decided it had posed long enough, it flew across the road, in front of my parked truck, and landed on the airport fence. In this shot it has swooped low, just above the brush, and then turned up, to land on the top of the fence. Notice the wings are very long for the size of the bird.

Here is one more of the close up shots. It was too snowy, dark, and overcast to bother looking for the Owl today. I'm hoping it will stay in the area for a while. If it stays around, I'll keep adding to this thread.

I think the last shot is great. Lee

I tooka bout 30 shots of my Barred Owl awhile back and oyu are right they really don't move or change their postion much. I basically had 4 poses!

This afternoon I tried to find the Short-eared Owl again, without any success. However, I did find two Northern Hawk Owls. This Owl was sitting on the airport fence only a few feet to the left of where I photographed the Short-eared Owl in fight, shown in the post above.

It was a terrible day for photography. Dim light from heavy overcast, plus it was late in the afternoon. Today's sunset was at 4:03 P.M.

While the lighting was terrible, the Owl was the most cooperative I have ever encountered. Hope I can find the same Owl again on a sunny day. It let me approach to 8 feet, where it was filling the entire frame.

This message was edited Nov 23, 2008 7:20 PM

Unlike the Short-eared Owl, this Northern Hawk Owl was constantly looking around and moving it's head. Over half of today's pictures captured the back of the head, due to all the motion. The only time it would look at me, was when I took a couple of steps forward, and the snow made a crunching sound. Then I would get a stare like this for a few second. This Owl didn't seem to be at all concerned with my presence. It was still sitting on the fence when I got cold and went back to the truck. It was about 3:30 when I gave up, and nearly dark.

Good grief, Gary. What fantastic experiences you've had and what a beautiful bird this one is. What wonderful patterning.

That's great Gary! Good job!

I am sooooo jealous! 2 different owls in just a couple of days span...unbelievable!

That is unbelievable! I'm insanely jealous too! WOW! Beautiful shots! Now, where oh where could I find an owl around here?

I guess this should have just been named the Owl thread, rather than the Short-eared Owl thread.
We received about an hour of partial sun today, so I tried for better photos with decent lighting. Yesterday I saw two Northern Hawk Owls, but only posted pictures of one. This is the Owl not shown yesterday, and the only Owl seen today. This is one of the few shots today with the Owl in direct sun light.

This message was edited Nov 24, 2008 3:51 PM

Wow he's gorgeous!

I really love the feather detail on that last one. I have yet to see an owl in my yard. Hear them a lot though. Mostly at dusk.

The baring on the under side on this Owl is a brownish color. The Owl in yesterdays pictures had baring which was more grayish colored.

Gary, they are fabulous shots. If you're going to rename the thread, consider "The jealously thread" as I think we're all grinding our teeth in envy. Encore!