Season of the Short-eared

I’ve been hunting and trying to photograph Short-eared Owls in Lincoln County, MO for nearly 10 years with mixed success. The past three years or so have been particularly challenging with lower numbers than typical, often without seeing a single owl on several outings. We hypothesize that a year or two of bad flooding in these areas adjacent to the Mississippi River have caused dramatic declines in the small rodents that these and other birds of prey need in order to spend their winters here.

Whatever the reasons, this winter (2021/2022) we are seeing incredible numbers of these long-winged beauties. Although primarily nocturnal, this species also exhibits diurnal and crepuscular habits and this is another area where we have been fortunate. I have spent close to 25 afternoons and evenings with these birds over the past six weeks, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends. On most of these days at least one or two owls were seen flying with the sun still well into the sky. This makes for excellent opportunities for observing their behaviors and working on better strategies to get the meaningful photographs we are after.

I have probably kept way too many photographs that will require purchasing new external drives much sooner than I anticipated and I have probably processed too many as well. Still, I plan on sharing many of these here over the course of the next several weeks. Hell, the season isn’t over. I’ll probably try for more before they head back to the great north for the breeding season.