While viewing 2 distant Short-eared Owls winging on low hunting flights separated by nearly a quarter-mile, I noticed they suddenly lifted above the horizon and began acting as though they were beginning a pairing flight. Circling together, ever higher, in a manner that lasted much longer and took them much higher, they kept more in sync with one another than I’ve witnessed before. As they gained altitude, I realized there was a third bird that at first glance I expected might be another owl, but quickly realized it was a Rough-legged Hawk, a dark morph Rough-leg, a “black hawk.” The hawk flew south of my position as the owls continued to circle ever-higher as they drifted after the hawk, and that’s when I realized the owls’ circling flight appeared to be aimed at pushing the Rough-leg away from the area where they were hunting.
That’s when I lost sight of all 3 of the soaring birds as they flew directly between me and the sun’s blinding light. I couldn’t look into the sun, but suddenly I heard the owls calling overhead! I looked up to see the pair of owls soaring high directly above me, making an occasional single-note raspy call. I obviously began taking photos, and don’t recall ever having a chance to photograph Short-eared Owls flying overhead. Now they only showed their underside, which gave them quite a dramatic white look against the deep blue sky. It was quite a thrill to see and photograph the owls as the sun mostly provided backlighting, which accented their long wings and broad wingspan. As I followed the closer owl through my camera lens, it was especially thrilling to see it look down at my position – WoW, what a look!
I continued to follow that owl’s flight through my camera lens, taking a series of photos that ultimately provided most of the photographs that illustrate this article. I took a quick glance to the southeast and saw the dark Rough-legged Hawk soaring but drifting farther east, showing its full underside too. The owls were silent now, and the trio of grassland birds – or is it tundra birds – flew even higher and farther to the east. I watched as long as I could, but the black hawk flew out of sight, and I was doubly surprised at how high the owls soared as they turned back to the northwest.
I’m convinced the idea was for the owls to stay above the hawk, in a position where they could dive at him using gravity to gain speed quickly if they dived. Just the potential of the owls circling that high likely pushed the hawk out of the immediate area without a more intent interaction. I would bet that the owls’ calls also added a level of intimidation, and after all, it was 2 against 1, so the owls had the upper hand from the beginning. To be sure, it was an interesting observation and interaction that definitely added to the photo opportunity that was created around me.
As the potential of the photography opportunity presented by the trio of birds improved, I hopped out of the car to follow the action as the hawk and owls soared south of my mobile blind – an action I try not to do. Birds and other wildlife tend to react in stronger ways to the presence of a person, while most animals are much less concerned about a stationary vehicle. Another concern was that the birds flew directly between me and the sun, which eliminated any chance of photographing them. By the time they were circling directly overhead, they still weren’t in a good position with regard to the sunlight – or so it seemed - but I wouldn’t pass up the chance to try some photos with the owls circling right above me.
With the level of backlighting I was seeing through my camera lens, I expected the underside of the owls would register darker than what my eyes were seeing – shaded with the sunlight coming from above and behind the owls. But somehow, perhaps by the camera’s light meter judgement, the owls coloration was very true to what my blue eyes were seeing, and the photos turned out to be a little brighter than what I was seeing. Even in the photo that I took when the owl looked down at me, its face appears to be reflecting some direct sunlight. Usually my Short-eared Owl photos show an abundance of brown, primarily because they fly low and their dorsal plumage is brown. But these white underside photographs really give the appearance of a white owl – a beautiful white owl surrounded by a uniform blue sky – a cold, clear blue sky.
After leaving the area, partly to let the owls settle in and partly to see if I could reconnect with the black hawk, I never saw the owls at the 7-mile prairie again that afternoon, even though I checked the area 3 more times. But I did find a pair of owls 2 miles to the east – on the far side of the expansive prairie area. This is a location I checked the previous Saturday, and while I found Short-eared Owls there the previous winter, there they were last Thursday afternoon. The owls hunted and perched independently, but they also perched and hunted together at times, which led me to wonder if these were the same 2 owls. And were they a pair? Or were they becoming a pair? It was all very interesting to think about the possibilities.
After the brief but exciting observations and photo ops in the area 5 to 8 miles south of my office, I couldn’t help but imagine that the entire area could have a scattering of eagles, hawks, and owls. But during the course of the afternoon, I surveyed an extended area and didn’t see any other birds along the way with the exception of 3 groups of Ring-necked Pheasants numbering 3, 6, and 14. As it turned out, the birding action took place within a matter of minutes, punctuated by a few moments of photo excitement that produced some memorable images and an unforgettable experience – but what more can we hope for on a sunny Thursday afternoon? Enjoy your birding activities and Good Luck!
Article & Photographs by Paul Konrad
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