From Billy Davidson
This guy knows how good that light is!
He also knows how good the voles are in this grass patch
Short eared owls in light like this are rare!
maybe it’s the golden glow of the light, but this owl doesn’t even look real.
Shorties are a bit stubby, the “mascara” can be a surprise if one isn’t expecting it, aaand it’s currently got its head screwed on backwards, but all the details look good to me.
please don’t get me wrong. i’m not saying i think the photo is llm generated or anything. the owl just look sort of like it belongs in hyrule or some other mythical place. the face is mask-like.
No worries! I typically presume the best of everyone in this community. There are just a few uncanny elements of the Short Eared Owls.
I got to meet one from a distance this year, and they are very adorable, though a bit more compact than I had imagined them to be.
I want to someday witness them doing their mating clap to impress the lady shorties.
i hear owls occasionally, but i’ve only been lucky enough to stumble upon and actually see one in the field. it was such a great experience. glad you had a chance to see a short-eared!
the clapping behavior is not something i was aware of. so cool! so he’s demonstrating his prowess in flight? mating behaviors are so interesting. every march i go out hoping to witness a woodcock skydance, but apparently they’re my nemesis bird.
The one I saw was in an ed center. It was a new arrival and was semi-private as it got acclimated, but it was up close to the roof of the aviary so the tarp covering the front didn’t block it from view.
I was very jealous a few weeks back when my wife got to spot one of the Great Horns that live around our neighborhood. Yes, I get to see them up close regularly, but even when I get to hold owls, they’re still patients, not spotting them randomly, which still seems cooler.
I saw a barn owl in my yard as a kid, but that was the only real wild sighting I’ve had I think.
