Short-eared owls were my nemesis for about three years. It took nearly a year of driving around back roads before I finally saw my first one. That first sighting wasn’t even a photographic opportunity because it was so dark, but I was still thrilled to watch these owls flying in the nautical twilight, dipping and diving as they chased each other around. That encounter gave me the motivation to keep trying.
Short-eared owls are diurnal, meaning they hunt during the daytime. I spent another two years driving around every couple of weekends in the winter before I had my second encounter. One afternoon, I almost drove past an owl without noticing it—he was sitting quietly on a post. I continued slowly past, then parked the car a respectable distance away so as not to spook him. I waited several minutes, watching him in the rearview mirror, before quietly getting out of the car, grabbing my tripod from the backseat, and setting up. I kept my body hidden behind the car, trying not to disturb the bird.
As I was taking pictures, I noticed a second owl hiding in the grass lower down beside the post, and then a third one flew off into the field. The photo below was taken that day.
My next encounter happened when my wife and I were returning from a day trip. I convinced her to let me drive some of the back roads home. As I turned onto a road where I had seen owls before, I said, “If you look on top of the posts, you may see an owl.” She replied, “Like that one there.” An owl was sitting on a post right beside the car, not even fifteen feet away, right next to the driver’s side window. I shut off the car and lowered the window to get the shot below.
The next big encounter came on a cloudy, overcast day. I was tired of driving and decided to sit and drink my coffee on a side road. While I was relaxing, several owls popped up out of the grass and began to hunt. I couldn’t believe my luck—sitting alone on a side road with several Shorties putting on a show. I captured several photos that day, some of which are below.
