Saturday, February 14, 2015

Short-eared owls

Thursday I hit Market Lake, Mud Lake and Camas National Wildlife Refuge and saw some interesting things.  I had planned on getting to Camas to watch the eagles come into roost for the night.  I got there a little early and found four pair of Short-eared owls flirting and courting around Big Pond.  It was a sight to behold.  The light was poor as the sun was setting, but here are some of the images I captured.
They appeared curious of me and flew around for a while.




Then they started displaying.  They would fly high and then free-fall, clapping their wings under their body, making a clapping sound.  With the eight of them doing this, I was busy trying to find the one working it way toward me.

 
Finally as the sun was almost down, this one displayed right over my head.  It was moving so fast it was hard to capture, but I was pleased.

 
I finally pulled myself away from the owls and joined six people from Idaho Falls at the eagle viewing area.  We had 26 bald eagle come to roost in the large cottonwoods for the evening.

 
Another fantastic day enjoying the wildness of Idaho.

3 comments:

Wilma said...

perfect shots for Valentine's Day. I love the golden light on the owls. Amazing display.

Bekkieann said...

Wow, love those owl shots. I think our usual bald eagles stayed in Idaho this year. Not as many here in Utah as we normally see.

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Hi Bill, I do not know if you got my comments, or not. I can see your past 2 comments on my blog, but cannot moderate them, or post them under my post presentation, any longer as they show up only in Google +. I hate that too. I even sent you an e-mail, but never heard back. We are in such a deep freeze, and state of KY was declared state of emergency. The heavy snow kept me from my journey Tuesday and had to postpone to next Tuesday. Your Owls are wonderful to see!