Feast or Famine?

From Mike Cohen

During the course of the week, I only saw three voles caught, and one was caught by a Great Blue Heron. That's a lot of hunting with not much to show for it. We could hear something making calls from the grass and speculated that the owls diet consisted of the bug or frog making that noise. Hard to believe a frog could live in such cold weather but who knows.

This Shortie gave me the best series of pictures carrying his catch to a nearby pole, after which either lunch or a cache for later. I learned from the locals, familiar with the owls, that they often cache their catch! The color behind the bird came from leafless vegetation well behind the bird.

(Short-eared Owl - Asio flammeus). (Sony alii, 400-800 lens @ 800mm, f/8, 1/2000 second, ISO 1600)