While recently exploring the Samish Flats in NW Washington I noticed a short-eared owl flying erratically with a freshly caught vole. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. The owl was trying to gain altitude with his heavy load, but other birds were chasing him, hoping to steal his meal. I tracked the owl for several seconds and waited for the inevitable as a much larger bald eagle joined the chase. When the two birds came together, I got this 8-frame sequence, all in three-quarters of a second. You can see several things happen here: The eagle had the “high ground”. He attacked from above. The owl was diving to get away, but he was about to be dinner himself, so the owl dropped the vole and immediately changed from a dive to a climb, safely avoiding the eagle’s talons. The eagle focused on the vole as it dropped towards the ground, so the owl lived to hunt another day. And yes, the eagle ended up with the vole.
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