A Shortie!!!
I asked my brother David if he had any interest in going to Plum Island with me for 3 nights to go birding in the hopes of seeing a Short-eared owl - he immediately said yes! Plum Island is on the North Shore of Massachusetts. We went in mid-January and could not have asked for a better stretch of weather for our outings. We did not need face masks which have been so necessary during this very frigid weather - what a gift.
He picked me up mid-morning on Monday, January 12th - we packed the car to the gills and off we went. Our game plan was to go directly to the Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island - we arrived around 12:30. Neither of us had ever been - I have been wanting to go for sometime. I had been obsessively tracking both short-eared and snowy owl sightings at Parker River on e-bird for the two weeks before we left. I had made notes of the various areas that the short-eareds had been seen in the hopes that like us - they would be creatures of habit… :). There had been consistent sightings for the prior 2 weeks of Shorties with occasional very distant sightings of a snowy owl. Since we had never been to Parker River our goal was to get the lay of the land the afternoon we arrived so that we would be ready for our early morning outing the next day. And of course, give it our best during this first afternoon
The Parker River Refuge covers many acres while you travel along an approximately 6 mile long road with small parking areas along the way. Immediately we knew that this was going to be a very different kind of outing for me - driving to various parking areas and walking vs park once and just walk. It was also amazing to have 3 restrooms along that stretch of road that are open all year long. We decided to drive the entire road first and then decide where to get out and walk around. As you drive down the road - the ocean is on your left over some dunes and out of sight and on the right are marsh lands - exactly what Shorties (birders call Short-eared owls Shorties - I just love that nickname) love for their hunting habitat. Very sadly, Shorties are an Endangered species in Massachusetts mostly due to loss of habitat.
I had seen and photographed Shorties 3 years ago in Provincetown at Race Point Beach near the airport - but with so -so results. I also had the opportunity to see them at Honey Pot Road in Hadley 3 years ago - again - so-so results as they were so far out into the fields.
Shorties are medium sized owls similar to the size of a crow with a wingspan of about 38-44 inches.. They are one of the few owls to hunt during daylight - mostly at dawn and dusk. They have a very distinct erratic flight pattern when they have prey in their sights. Their “ears” - small tufts of feathers - are rarely seen as they are so small and they normally only stand up when they are not happy about something or there is someone flying above or near them - like Northern Harriers.
Back to our first afternoon outing. We traveled down the road as far as you can go while I picked the spots I wanted us to stop at on the way back up the road. David was game for absolutely anything and everything. We made multiple stops and spent unhurried time. He scanned with his binoculars and I scanned with my zoom lens - nothing. It was such a beautiful afternoon - mid 30’s with gorgeous blue skies and no wind- we were thrilled to be out in the fresh air together. As the sun was getting lower in the sky I let David know we needed to get to a spot where I wanted us to commit to and just see if the magic would happen. We packed up and moved to the closest parking area and walked to the spot I had in mind. We watched Northern Harriers way out in the marsh gliding beautifully while they hunted. They were too far out for me to photograph but we both enjoyed watching them. I told him to keep looking for two things over the marsh - either frenetic moth-like wing movements or a low flying gliding bird- if we saw either of those two things we had a very good chance we were seeing a Shortie.
We waited…. we scanned…. we waited…. we scanned….and we just kept at it. The sun was sinking off to our front and left so we kept looking to the right in the hopes one would fly towards the light…Why not dream big?
Finally in the far, far back right of the marsh I saw the distinctive frenetic wing flaps!!!! I said - OMG Dave, there it is!!! He instantly zeroed in on it with his binoculars and I followed it with my zoom…. and did my best to slow my breathing… it had a long ways to come to fly near us but it was heading in the right direction…
And my dear friends and family - not only was it flying in the right direction it flew at a 45 degree angle towards us!!!!
Then she - I will go with a female but have no idea - started to do her moth-like fluttering while trying to zero in on some kind of a mouse or something…
No luck so she kept on going…. she turned at a better angle to the sinking sun…. I still can’t believe it!
As I put this together for you I feel my heart racing like I am right there re-living each precious moment. She kept coming in our direction while getting lower in the sky and turned and looked directly at us!
And kept looking right at us!
I know that neither of us were breathing…. this was more than anything I could have ever dreamed would happen - the light on her face and those gorgeous eyes while the light was also kissing her wings…
There are no words -
This is the cropped version of the above shot…. every single time I look at this dream shot it gives me hope for all of us. I will be getting this photograph framed for our home…. pure Lorraine Magic!
She kept on going…..
Getting lower and lower….
Lower still and heading away from us… still looking for her dinner…
We were both speechless - we did a high-five and hugged each other…