Dow's Bird Photos

Short-eared Owl

March 1, 2026

Several times in the past month we've been fortunate to look west out our front window and see a Short-eared Owl (SEOW) hunting in the fields bordered by East Anderson on the south and Marine Drive to the north. I have photographed one, and sometimes two, SEOWs in this area in seven different years. For some reason I've only posted one of these photos on my web site, from 2013. This page remedies the omission.

Below you will find a selection of my favorite shots. I've used three cameras during this time. The banner photo and the first three photos, from 2013, were taken with a Sony a580. The photos from January 2018 through February 2025 were taken with a Sony a6500. The remainder of the images, starting in April 2025, were taken with a Nikon Z8.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 3:15 PM

This owl spent 20 minutes flying around the fields and even right over the road in front of our house, giving me opportunities for head-on close-up shots. I first spotted it sitting on a fence post and got the first photo before it started flying.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 1/29/2013

Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at 4:30 PM

After ten days I was starting to get comfortable with my new camera, the Sony a6500. Hearing reports of a couple of Short-eared Owls along 3 Crabs Road, I headed out at dusk to look for them. It was almost sunset when I saw one perched on top of a small deciduous tree about 50' from the road. I pulled over, got out, and managed to get focused in the low light. Got a picture, then noticed a second owl perched lower in the tree. Here are the two shots I kept.

Short-eared Owls, 3 Crabs Road, Dungeness, WA, 1/2/2018

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 5:30 PM

After finding the owls in early January, I looked for them again on a number of occasions. I thought I found them today, but it turned out to be just one owl, perched three fence posts from a female Northern Harrier. Both birds hunt the same habitat and food, and I've several times seen a harrier attack a Short-eared Owl to chase it away.

Short-eared Owl and Northern Harrier, 3 Crabs Road, Dungeness, WA, 2/6/2018

Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 6:40 PM

It has been three years since we last saw a Short-eared Owl out our front window. Shortly before sunset today I noticed this one sitting on a fence post in front of a rental cottage across the road. I got one poor shot of it on the post, then it flew in my direction for a better shot. Then it flew unusually high and headed off to the southeast. I liked the silhouette in the fading light with Unicorn Peak and Unicorn Horn in the background.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 3/11/2021

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 3/11/2021/p>

Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 5:45 PM

Frequent watching out the front window this week paid off again with a bonus. First saw a single owl, then it was joined by another.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 3/16/2021

Short-eared Owls, Dungeness, WA, 3/16/2021

Thursday, March 18, 2016 at 6:40 PM

Back again, two days later. I wonder how many days the owl comes and I just don't see it. Perhaps daily?

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 3/18/2021

Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 7:05 PM

This looks like a near miss. But Mama Llama didn't even look up.

Short-eared Owl with Mama Llama, Dungeness, WA, 3/21/2021

Friday, March 26, 2021 at 6:45 PM

Just cruising by.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 3/26/2021

Monday, February 17, 2025 at 4:50 PM

Has it really been four years since we last saw a Short-eared Owl from our front window? Today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day, and we were rewarded with a good close-up of one owl, then a couple of more distant shots when it was joined by a second owl.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 2/17/2025

Short-eared Owls, Dungeness, WA, 2/17/2025

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM

More running out the door with my camera to get close-up pics of the owl flying past.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 2/26/2025

Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 6:50 PM

Some days we see the owl flying on the far side of the fields, too far away for me to photograph. If the light is good, I will hop in the car and drive around to the far side and hope the owl sticks around long enough for me to get there. A big advantage is that the setting sun is at my back from that side of the field. These are the first photos of the owl with my Nikon Z8 with the 180-600mm lens. It really does a great job with flight shots.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 4/23/2025

Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 2:50 PM

Today the rain obscured the super full moon that took place 25 minutes after I caught this one photo of the owl, taken from the front porch. I was surprised to see the owl so early. I needed a high ISO, but still had a slow shutter speed so the rain drops are clearly visible. The bright colors in the foreground are from the wild rose bushes across the road from us.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 12/4/2025

Friday, December 19, 2025 at 2:30 PM

Another early arrival today. The owl plunged to the ground, but came up empty on this effort. This was our last sighting of 2025,

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 12/19/2025

Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 4:15 PM

One year ago today I photographed a pair Short-eared Owls across the road. Only one today, but it put on quite a show, and actually caught a critter that you can see if you look closely at the fourth photo below.. It was finally chased away by a pair of Common Ravens. I make no apology for the final Raven shot being out of focus, but I wanted to show that the owl got away safely.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 2/17/2026

Short-eared Owl and Common Raven, Dungeness, WA, 2/17/2026

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 3:40 PM

Although we've seen the owl several more times, this is the final photo for this page, unless I catch something really unusual. Sadly, I was a few seconds too late to catch it perched on the street sign at the southwest corner of our yard. That would have been a great final photo for this page.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 2/18/2026

Bird of the Day

March 7, 2026

Short-eared Owl

Finding and photographing owls during daylight hours is always a challenge, and a thrill when it happens. I've had my share of luck over the years, photographing seven species in Washington State, with six of them here in Sequim. That said, mostly I've only photographed any species a couple of times, except for the Short-eared Owl. This bird conveniently visits a field across from our house and I've had many opportunities to get lousy photos. But if I take enough photos, I eventually get one that I keep.

Short-eared Owls have been recorded on nearly every Sequim Christmas Bird Count since 1996. Usually only one or two, but in 2020 we had an irruption, with eleven reported. They are most common during winter months, but I have photographed them from November through April. Short-eared Owls have a short lifespan of only four years in the wild. So the owls that I photographed this year are probably not the same as the ones I photographed in 2021.

Here is the first photo I ever got of a Short-eared Owl.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 11/9/2012

Vince, Marlene and I were standing across the road from the 3 Crabs Restaurant at dusk, looking east over the open fields and marshes, hoping to see a Short-eared Owl. This was in mid-November, so at 4 PM the sun was going down rapidly. Three birders I didn't recognize arrived and walked off to point their scopes a different direction. I asked what they were looking for and they reported they were looking for the same bird. I told them to come over where we were because that is where we'd been told to look. They came over just in time for us all to see the owl come out in the open and start hunting the fields. So I got my photo and the others got to see and photograph it. I then learned that the new-comers were from Seattle, and they were very well known expert birders, whose names I won't drop here.

At this time I was just learning to use my new Sony a580. The Tamron 200-500mm lens let me photograph birds at a distance, but in low light the images were less than ideal. But not having any photos of this owl in my archives I was less picky than I am now. Here are two more from this day, and one from a couple days later when I saw the owl for the last time.

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 11/9/2012

Short-eared Owl, Dungeness, WA, 11/14/2012

Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers hunt the same habitats for the same food and have similar flight patterns. A female Northern Harrier is similar in color to the owl, and easy to mistake for the owl when you are hoping to see the owl.This happens often enough that we don't get excited until we can get the bird in our binoculars to confirm which it is. Since the harrier is here year around and the owl for only 4-6 months, the harrier claims territorial ownership of the fields. Many times we have seen the owl just before the harrier shows up to chase it away.

When I saw the owl in the next image, it was 600 yards away at the far west edge of the field. I ran outside with my camera and when I spotted the owl again it was being chased by a female harrier. I got this one shot, not very good but you can identify both birds. I then drove around to the far side and got closer shots that you can see in the center section of this page. A second owl showed up and the harrier left the scene.

Short-eared Owl and Northern Harrier, Dungeness, WA, 2/17/2025

William Leon Dawson, in his 1909 publication, The Birds of Washington, has this to say: "Let no one suppose that because the bird under consideration has abbreviated ear-tufts, he is anywise "short" on hearing. On the contrary, his ear-parts are enormously developed." And: "Surely a Short-eared Owl could hear the footfall of a beetle at a hundred yards!"

Dawson had little to say about Short-eared Owls in Western Washingon, but 116 years later our own Bob Boekelheide wrote The Mysterious Irruptive Owls, describing the prevalence and behaviors of Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls in Clallam County.

Additional info:

Seattle Audubon's BirdWeb

Cornell Lab of Ornithology