Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus

I have been hoping to get a reasonably close photo of a Short-eared Owl on a fence post in the wild for the last few years. Finally, I got the chance on 7 February 2019 - not too bad, though it could have been a bit sharper. They are such beautiful owls and an absolute joy to see. Not sure when I'll get the chance to go east again - the deep freeze continues and it is most unpleasant to try and take photos in these temperatures. The risk of getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere in these frigid temperatures puts me off going.

My actual reason for driving east of the city yesterday was to go and introduce myself to one of the local landowners in that area. About a week ago, her Grandson had been curious about what we were doing, parked along the side of the road. He told me that his Grandmother was really nervous, wondering what we were up to. Understandably so, as there is plenty of crime in rural areas. I had reassured him that anyone in any cars were birders/photographers, interested only in seeing and photographing the special owls that were on their land. He invited me to go in and meet his Grandma, but I had to explain to him that my night vision for driving is bad and that I needed to try and get back to the city before it got dark (ended up driving in the dark!). I told him that I would call in another day and I wanted to make sure that I did this. So, yesterday was the day. The night before, I had printed out a photo that I had taken a week ago of one of these Short-eared Owls, perched on a post in their field. Also printed a Snowy Owl and a Great Horned Owl for them, and we had an enjoyable chat about the different kinds of owl. I do hope this lady feels safer now that she knows exactly what we are all doing.

Had a short search for Snowy Owls yesterday, too, but came up empty-handed. However, I did see a gorgeous Prairie Falcon perched high up on top of a power pole.