The kestrel and owl battled harshly for the mouse. BLANKENBERGE, BELGIUM: INCREDIBLE IMAGES have been captured of a short-eared owl and a kestrel batt
The kestrel and owl battled harshly for the mouse. BLANKENBERGE, BELGIUM: INCREDIBLE IMAGES have been captured of a short-eared owl and a kestrel battling mid-air for their mousy action-packed shot showed the one-pound heavy owl dropping a mouse from its grasp after the kestrel attacked it, before the kestrel reached for the mouse with its beak. Other amazing shots show the owl and kestrel attacking each other after the mouse has been dropped from the owl?s clutches, showing off the short-eared owl?s incredible 43-inch wing-span. Industrial engineer Wouter Cardoen (49) from Vilvoorde, Belgium came across the short-eared owl after there was a big influx of the species flying from Northern Europe to Belgium to avail of their abundant rodents along the farmlands and meadows near the coast. Wouter took these incredible images of an owl mid-battle with a kestrel using a Nikon Z9 with Nikon 600 mm f4 lens in Uitkerkse Polders, Belgium. Wouter often searches for places that he may find short-eared owls on the hunt, as he finds them incredibly mesmerising and interesting as unlike most other owls, they tend to hunt during daylight hours as well as during the night. Wouter was waiting patiently in the area from early afternoon, and finally saw the owl sweep down to capture a mouse below, when a kestrel came brazenly towards the owl to steal its well-earned meal. The images of the kestrel attacking the owl was only a few seconds long, but Wouter was able to capture the amazing photographs as his camera captured 20 frames per-second. The short-eared owls are active and skilled hunters, but it usually takes quite an effort for them to capture a mouse in the fields below, usually hunting late afternoon and dusk can be difficult for them to see the mice. Unluckily for the hungry owls, the kestrel birds are also common along the areas they hunt, making it difficult for them to capture a mouse and be able to keep it from getting into the claws of other hunters. Oftentimes,
Size: 3074px × 2050px
Photo credit: © Media Drum World / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: bird, birds, kestrel, owl, photography, short-eared
