A late afternoon of Owls and Harriers, Eide Rd, Stanwood, WA

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Terry O

Terry O

Well-Known Member
I ventured forth from Edmonds last week (Feb. 25) to attempt to capture a few shots of the Short-eared Owls. There was a fair amount of Northern Harrier action in the afternoon but it wasn't until late afternoon/early evening that the Short-eared Owls showed up.


The female Northern Harriers provided most of the action
2--25-2014 fm harrier eide_0517_filtered.jpg

2--25-2014 fm harrier eide_0720.JPG

As luck would have it a male Northern Harrier arrived. This shot was a near miss...I am always amazed by the difference between the male and female plumage.
2-25-2014 male harrier eide_0700.JPG

Finally, after 4PM, a Short-eared Owl arrived.
2-25-2014 se owl eide_0626.JPG

2-25-2014 se owl eide_0651_filtered.jpg
 
As soon as the owl caught a rodent of some sort, the female Harrier zoomed in and took it away.

2-25-2014 harrier after owls catch_0573.JPG

Undaunted, the owl resumed the hunt.
2-25-2014 se owl eide_0635_filtered.jpg
 
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Good shots. Were they taken with your 7D + 500L telephoto + 1.4x teleconverter mounted on the tripod? if so, you did a very good job of tracking the birds in flight.

Nice catch on the male northern harrier. I read that females outnumber males and it is common for a single male to provide food for as many as four separate nests. Polygamy is not easy. ;)
 
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Bill Anderson said:
Good shots. Were they taken with your 7D + 500L telephoto + 1.4x teleconverter mounted on the tripod? if so, you did a very good job of tracking the birds in flight.

Nice catch on the male northern harrier. I read that females outnumber males and it is common for a single male to provide food for as many as four separate nests. Polygamy is not easy. ;)
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They were, Bill. Great place to practice tracking using that monster - I carried my 400 with me, but had my hands full will just the 500 :)
 
Some nice shots here, Terry.

I wanted to say that I've mistaken the Northern Harrier in flight for owls before. Sometimes they will tuck their beaks in close and appear to get that disc-like shaped face while flying. Size and color isn't too far off between the northern harrier and the Short-eared Owl, also.

Thanks for sharing this!



Chad
 
photographmemories said:
Some nice shots here, Terry.

I wanted to say that I've mistaken the Northern Harrier in flight for owls before. Sometimes they will tuck their beaks in close and appear to get that disc-like shaped face while flying. Size and color isn't too far off between the northern harrier and the Short-eared Owl, also.

Thanks for sharing this!



Chad
Click to expand...

Adding to the confusion is that both birds are found in the same location, hunt during the day, and hunt in the same manner.
 
Beautiful captures of both Northern Harriers and short eared owl in flight. I also love my 500 mm 4.0L, but it does get a little heavy at times. Eide road is one of my favorite birding spots :-)
 
Jetmaker said:
Beautiful captures of both Northern Harriers and short eared owl in flight. I also love my 500 mm 4.0L, but it does get a little heavy at times. Eide road is one of my favorite birding spots :-)
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Thanks very much, Jetmaker :). I agree, Eide road is a great spot!
 
Nice work, Terry. I've never had any luck along that road. Nice to know there's actually some action there. ;)

Max
 
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