I’ve said before that this has been a banner year for breeding Short-eared Owls in northern Utah. Here’s more proof.
Following are some of the fledgling Short-eared Owls I photographed last week. These owls range in age, flight skills and approachability but all of them are fledglings that have recently left the nest. Each was photographed last week near a road from my pickup in northern Utah.
Some of the young birds I found were out in the open and conspicuously perched while others were…
about as buried in vegetation as they could get.
One morning I stumbled upon at least ten young owls dispersed over a sagebrush-covered hillside next to the road. This image and the following two show some of those birds.
With so many fledglings in the same small area they must have been from multiple nests.
This one was fully capable of flight, though many (perhaps all) of the others were too.
This young owl was right on the edge of the road I was driving. The day before I found a road-killed adult Short-eared Owl in this same area so it made me apprehensive for the safety of the youngster to see it along the road.
Thankfully most of them stayed hidden in the vegetation but still very near the road.
I couldn’t get a clear shot of many of them…
and some were in fairly unattractive settings. I caught this one in mid-yawn.
This youngster was perched on wind-blown tumbleweeds blown up against a fence. Given my past experiences with owls of various species hung up on barbed wire it always makes me a little nervous to see owls, especially young ones, so close to what some refer to as “devil wire” but in this area barbed wire is ubiquitous and unavoidable. Thankfully I haven’t found any owls entangled in it so far this year.
I couldn’t be happier about the apparent breeding success of Short-eared Owls in northern Utah this year. I wish each and every one of them well.
Ron
Wow Ron!!!!! These are just beautiful shots! Just magnificent! Thanks so much!
Hello Ron: Great pics and beautiful!! Say, I was wondering why no exif info on these pics? I look at each of your photos and bounce it off against the data you post in hopes of bettering my settings (to get shots like yours).
Zaphir, occasionally I just don’t have the time to include exif data – this was one of them. Sorry…
Beautiful shots Ron.
Buried in vegation is a great picture, the eyes just great.
Fantastic photos! Do you submit the road kills to the website that tracks them – location, type of road, date/time, etc. I think it’s called roadkillgarneau after the assistant prof. who initiated the program – Danielle Garneau is her name, she is at Plattsburgh in NY state… I was never able to use the epicollect website – I am a smart phone moron 😣
Nicole, that site/program is new to me. I’ll check it out.
Wonderful Ron!
Thanks, Charlotte.
Also, I purchased your signed burrowing owl picture at the Hawk Watch fundraiser s few months ago.
Tell me, where was that picture taken ?
Thanks for supporting HWI, Karen.
That photo was taken along the Antelope Island causeway. A few years ago there was an active burrow right next to the first one of those concrete structures along the road going west from the entrance. I spent many, many hours with those adorable young owls and over a period of several weeks I really grew to love them. Sadly, one of the parents was killed by a car but by then I think the youngsters were old enough to survive.
If I remember correctly the image I donated to HWI was the third one from the left in the Burrowing Owl panel on my rotating banner at the top of my blog. I hope you enjoy it.
These are wonderful!! Thank you for sharing! !
Thank you, Karen.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
I would have been smiling too broadly to take photos. And am so glad that your instincts are better.
My instincts fail more often than I’d like, EC. It happened again this morning with a couple of these young owls. I went with my instinct and this time it wasn’t a good choice. Part of the game…
OMG Ron!!! Soooo cute!!!! I want one!! I want one!!!!! Adorable, all .. but that last one just did me in!!!! How fun!!!!!!!
I’m glad you like them, Lois. Thanks.
Beautiful photos. I would be to busy watching to remember to photograph. I hope their home stays undeveloped. I hate to see how northern Utah is eaten up by human habitat.
“I hate to see how northern Utah is eaten up by human habitat”
Me too, April. The mantra of this state is growth, development and profits for the few. Everything else be damned.
Wonderful series of images…not too crazy about the last…too close to that damned Devil’s wire…scary!
Thanks, Patty. I figured you wouldn’t much like that last shot.
I join you in wishing the Owls well. It is nice to see that they now have a good population in northern Utah. SEOs have very expressive faces that are fun to look at.
Susan, I just hope their rebounding numbers is a continuing trend!
Such cute little guys. Love the expressions….which make me smile also. Thanks
There’s nothing like young owls for gobs of personality, Carol.
These are super images Ron! Really great to hear that there are so many SEOWs, they are declining in many areas, so this makes me very happy to hear.
I agree, Ed. There decline in many areas has been almost precipitous so I’m delighted to have those around here doing so very well.
Cool! Beautiful shots of beautiful birds! 🙂 LOVE owls and can watch them for long periods of time. Glad they are doing so well this year. 🙂
Thank you, Judy. SEO’s are doing VERY well this year.
LOVE these shots! Juvies are just too darn cute! THANKS! (Sorry, hurty hands today…or would say more.)
Sometimes less is mote….
I know you sometimes have issues with your hands, Laura. Can’t be a lot of fun. I hope you have improvement soon.
Hope handrobs. Resolve soon….
Sorry–Evil iPad is at it again–That’s supposed to be “I hope hand problems resolve soon” ….( I know how nasty and frustrating they can be)…
Thanks Patty (and all). Hard to get through the day without hands 😉
Owch!….
Show me an owl, and I start to grin, it’s reflexive for me. I started grinning with the first image,
and continued to the last, and in fact, that smile has yet to leave my face. No matter how my
day is going, if I look at the pictures in your blog, or in Mia’s, it brightens my moments… So, on
this special day, I say thank you for all those smiles, and I look forward to having more in the
future. ;-))
Take care today, be safe, stay well, and a reminder to all of us to remember, “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE…..”
Well said Roger – and take care as well.
Roger, you should be grinning more in the future because I found some more of these young birds (and adults) this morning.
Great reminder at the end of your comment.
Love your photos of these young Short Ears. I keep hoping to see one!
I hope you see one (or more) sometime soon, Kathy.
Man, what fun!! The vole population must have exploded!
Great shots and interesting poses.
Thanks for sharing.
I think both voles and SEO’s are having a great year, Dick. Burrowing Owls too.