Recently KSL.com; a Utah news station, had an article about a vole (a small rodent) infestation In Farmington, specifically in the neighborhood of Foxboro Community. While I sympathize with the residents about the damage being done to their yards I am disturbed by the advice many of the people commenting have left on the story.
Seeing the word "Montana" so often has gotten me anxious, antsy and itching to head north soon to see more of a state that beckons to me because I have fallen in love with it.
Farmers don't like Richardson's Ground Squirrels much, they dig holes that could break the legs on livestock and eat grains and the shoots of plants, I can understand those concerns. But I have to say... I love them, they are fun to watch and photograph.
I recently read about a congenital condition in humans called "iris colobomas" which is also found in other mammals and birds and have begun to wonder if that might not be the cause of the abnormal pupils I see in some species of birds instead of an injury to the eye.
I am always looking for the unexpected birds to show up in locations where I might not expect them them to be and this Short-eared Owl was a bit of a nice surprise.
As a bird photographer I often strive for images where the subjects are out in the open, without distractions in the fore or background, but as with any photographic "rule", they are made to be broken.
The photographs I have attached to this post are of the same Great Horned Owl fledgling, taken in the same location on the same morning.