Short-eared Owl (Northern) - Nick Tepper
Report

Contributor

Date

Location

Nauset Beach, Orleans
Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 41.7888489, -69.9355316
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

Fantastic show south of Pochet starting around 2:00PM. First seen in an aerial battle with a NOHA and PEFA. Once the PEFA saw it, its harassment behavior changed and it left the NOHA alone to pursue the SEOW. The PEFA some serious passes at the owl, at which point the owl tried to avoid the falcon by flying 1000ft or more into the air for 5min or so. On the SEOWs descent back down to the marsh, the PEFA took a teardrop dive at the SEOW at great speed (at which point we were sure the SEOW was done for). Somehow it managed to maneuver away from the PEFA's talons and made it back to the marsh. The PEFA seemed tired and headed back to Pochet, and the owl began hunting the dunes, which it did til at least 4:00PM.

Technical information

Model
Canon EOS REBEL T3
Lens
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
ISO
400
Focal length
400 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire, auto
f-stop
f/5.6
Shutter speed
1/2500 sec
Dimensions
2048 pixels x 1533 pixels
Original file size
1.22 MB