12/27/2019
Hopefully, this is not my last outing for the year. After the tepid success of photographing Short-eared Owl in southern Indiana, I headed north to try my luck up there. The northwest portion of the state is home to Kankakee Sands. Kankakee is a TNC property. The property encompasses a large amount of prairie area, and it's a great place to see owls and other winter prairie specialists, in the state. I had about a dozen owls within a 2-3 mile stretch of road. I also had a handful of Northern Harrier, at least one Rough-legged Hawk, and a dark morph Red-tailed Hawk. The Red-tail was particularly beautiful. It's places like this that one of the main reasons I'm a strong supporter of The Nature Conservancy. Their dedication to preserving land is something that I admire.
I arrived at the location a little later than hoped, and the owls were already up once I arrived. I had pretty good luck. If I was going to be critical, I'd have to wish for more natural perches, but I'm happy to have the shots I got.
Just as I was thinking it was time to leave, I pulled up next to one last cooperative owl. It sat on this post while I shot photos; eventually shaking out its feathers and then launching into the air after a few minutes. Here is where a zoom lens would have been nice. I got several shots of the launch, but the wings were clipped on all of them.
Thanks for reading,
Mike