I had not gone even half a mile till I seen my first pheasant...he took off at a pace, too fast to get a good photo. But just little bit farther on I hit the jackpot! Except I did not get a photo of them all. Up near the road there were 6, yes SIX male ring-necked pheasants...and up the hill a bit farther were the two above.
I did not get a single picture of the group of six....they were kind of strung out and started taking off before I could get all the photos I wanted And at that none of the ones I took are very good. The only thing I wonder is where are the females...I saw several more pheasants after this bunch, but not one single female. And back during the spring and summer, I only saw one or two females...but lots and lots of males. I know the females are harder to spot...they do not have the the beautiful colors of the male, but still you would think I would have seen one or two last night...specially with the snow on the ground.
No here we have the main reason I was wanting to go out there late in the evening...I wanted to see if any of the short-eared owls had returned. I am here to tell you they have returned and brought their relatives and neighbors, too. I have never seen so many as were out there.
I am showing three different short-eared owls....but I could not count how many I saw...I counted 5 in the sky at one time. It was not seeing one, it disappearing and seeing another...they were all within sight at the same time! They look like a bomber at certain angles in flight.Notice the sign under the one above...apparently the owl is not reading the sign. Click the above photo and and look how intent the owl is looking at something down below. If I were a mouse, I would be afraid.
Aren't they a fine looking bird?
I sure am glad you went out to the pits. You got some wonderful pictures.
ReplyDeleteHi Rose, I love seeing the Pheasants --but I really love seeing that Owl.. What a gorgeous bird.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such beauty... Glad you went to the strip pits.
Hugs,
Betsy
I love your photos in this post and the previous one. How awesome to get a shot of an owl. Looks like you have some snow too.
ReplyDeleteI want to go out to that pit with you someday, Rose! I have never, NEVER gotten a decent photo of a peasant OR an owl!
ReplyDeleteI remember you capturing these guys before. I'm jealous of these little owl shots. They sure are cute.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a pheasant in years. Don't even know if there are any in our area. What a wonderful place you have in those strip pits.
ReplyDeleteBy the way what exactly is a strip pit?
Gill in Canada
Wow!! How lucky for you to get all of those great shots, especially the owls!
ReplyDeleteHooooo...to you, too.
ReplyDeleteThose pheasants are just gorgeous. When I was a little kid living in Minnesota, some friends of ours were avid hunters and always hunted pheasant in season...I would stop at their house after school and they would give me some of those beautiful feathers.
Makes me sad to think of it, now.
these are great captures. i was impressed with the pheasants but then you stole my heart with these owl pictures. my goodness, how i wish i could see an owl in the wild. i've only heard them whoing in the night before. they are definitely on my bucket list of things to see & photograph. seeing your pheasants made me recall a time this past summer when my daughter and i were out taking pictures and she walked upon a bird in the tall weeds. it made her scream out when it flew away right in front of her. have a great night~
ReplyDeleteHey the sign says no hunting! Knock it off!
ReplyDeletewow...pheasants and owls! I would have been jumping up and down and too excited to focus the camera. I can't believe all those owls just sit there on those posts! Maybe I better try our stripper pits late in the day.
ReplyDelete