I have
finally found some time to sit in front of my computer. It is something I try
to avoid as much as possible – but unfortunately a very important and big part
of a wildlife photographer’s job. During the last two weeks, I have edited most
of my images I’ve taken this year and I have now about 800 or so fresh images
ready for my agents to sell.
What is
nice about the editing process is that one gets a chance to re-live the many
amazing experiences I have had while taking the images. One of my strongest and
best wildlife encounters this year involves a short-eared owl. Last year was a
very good rodent year, meaning many owls and raptors had a good breeding
success in the Scandinavian forest and mountains. This year however, as
expected, the rodent population had crashed completely. When last year’s young
owls returned to the places they were born to try to start breeding themselves,
they only found areas where food was very scarce. Many of the owls were very hungry,
and needed to search for food elsewhere. Many short-eared owls were hunting
during daytime and stayed in the low land was a good evidence of their food
shortage.
In end of May, I was searching for short-eared owls
to photograph in one of my local patches. I was pleased to find one hunting
over a nearby field, but before I arrived to a good position the owl disappeared
out of sight and perched in a ditch. I placed myself about a 100m away, and
since there was no one else around I risked making a fool of myself and started
to make squeaking noises with my lips. I was hoping my strange way of
communicating would attract some attention, but never imagined what happened
next. A few seconds after I started making the noise, the owl lifted from the
ditch and came straight towards me. As I was looking through my camera, the owl
just started to fill the viewfinder more and more. I couldn’t focus properly, and
I realised the owl was not to turn around. It then landed on my 70-300mm lens
while I was holding it – only about 30cm from my nose! Not easy to photograph birds when they sit on
top of the lens. It sat for a few seconds while we were staring into each other
eyes before the apparently very hungry owl flew off. I have never communicated
so well with an owl ever before! A true moment to remember and experiences like
this is the very reason why I love being a wildlife photographer!
Not everyone is as pleased as me to see a short-eared owl..
- EG -
