First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
p.1 #1First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
Earlier this week I was able to get out to a new spot where short-eared owls have been spotted with more regularity than my usual (more) local spot. Sadly, there have been very few sightings at the fields I usually go to, where just a few years ago there would be dozens of owls to see every night. At first it was a quiet late afternoon with a couple of harriers floating around the field far from the viewing platforms and small section of open trail, until just before sunset when a single owl put on a show. Thanks for looking!
Edited on Dec 29, 2025 at 07:24 AM · View previous versions
Edited on Dec 29, 2025 at 07:24 AM · View previous versions
Dec 27, 2025 at 02:41 PM
p.1 #2First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
Great find Zach and in lovely light
Morris
Morris
Dec 28, 2025 at 07:30 AM
p.1 #3First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
morris wrote:
Great find Zach and in lovely light
Morris
Thanks Morris!
Dec 28, 2025 at 11:48 AM
p.1 #6First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
Jeffrey wrote:
Great images!
Thanks Jeffrey
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Dave_E wrote:
These are nice.
Dave
Thank you, Dave!
Great images!
Thanks Jeffrey
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Dave_E wrote:
These are nice.
Dave
Thank you, Dave!
Dec 29, 2025 at 10:56 AM
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p.1 #7First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
These are beautiful Zach and a great job working the light you had to work with 
#2 and #3 really are beautiful!
Karl
#2 and #3 really are beautiful!
Karl
Dec 29, 2025 at 07:01 PM
p.1 #8First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
Karl Witt wrote:
These are beautiful Zach and a great job working the light you had to work with
#2 and #3 really are beautiful!
Karl
Thanks Karl. We lucked out with some sun breaking through clouds that were low on the horizon just as the owl came out. The light was brief, though, and it quickly turned to dim blue hour light.
These are beautiful Zach and a great job working the light you had to work with
#2 and #3 really are beautiful!
Karl
Thanks Karl. We lucked out with some sun breaking through clouds that were low on the horizon just as the owl came out. The light was brief, though, and it quickly turned to dim blue hour light.
Dec 30, 2025 at 07:28 AM
p.1 #9First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
SEO's are one of my favorite birds to photograph, Nice job capturing these to whet my appetite. Bruce
Dec 30, 2025 at 10:43 AM
p.1 #10First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
Nice set! Love the last two! Been out a few times with no luck, so still chasing sightings and known locations.
Dec 30, 2025 at 11:11 AM
p.1 #11First Short-Eared Owls of the Season
B Benson wrote:
SEO's are one of my favorite birds to photograph, Nice job capturing these to whet my appetite. Bruce
Thanks Bruce, they are a lot of fun to watch.
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jcnemy wrote:
Nice set! Love the last two! Been out a few times with no luck, so still chasing sightings and known locations.
Thanks John. They can be tricky and the "hot spots" certainly fluctuate throughout the winter. One local conservation area where they overwinter is spread out over a number of different properties that span along a stretch of interconnected roads. One day they'll be all over one field, and then the next weekend another spot is active. And then of course there's variable accessibility so the active field one day might not have close spots to photograph from or the light might be at a bad angle. Then there are cloudy days and rainy days....
SEO's are one of my favorite birds to photograph, Nice job capturing these to whet my appetite. Bruce
Thanks Bruce, they are a lot of fun to watch.
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jcnemy wrote:
Nice set! Love the last two! Been out a few times with no luck, so still chasing sightings and known locations.
Thanks John. They can be tricky and the "hot spots" certainly fluctuate throughout the winter. One local conservation area where they overwinter is spread out over a number of different properties that span along a stretch of interconnected roads. One day they'll be all over one field, and then the next weekend another spot is active. And then of course there's variable accessibility so the active field one day might not have close spots to photograph from or the light might be at a bad angle. Then there are cloudy days and rainy days....
Dec 31, 2025 at 07:37 AM