2021 BirdWatching Photography Awards First Place: Short-eared Owl and Northern Harrier

Kathy McCulloch Wade, of Lake Forest Park, Washington, won first place at the 2021 BirdWatching Photography Awards with this stunning image of a short-eared owl facing a northern harrier, which faces away from the camera. She took the photo in mid-March 2021 in Skagit County, Washington, an ideal place for wintering owls and raptors. She said she went to the site to test out a new camera, and immediately the short-eared landed in a field near her with a vole in its talons.

“The owl pricked up its ears and was very alert, looking in my direction,” she said. “It became clear that he was on alert because a northern harrier was fast approaching, and this owl wanted to protect his meal. The owl flew away just as the harrier came very close, and behold the resulting image.The owl managed to scare the harrier out of its meal that day.

One of our judges, Founding Editor Eldon Greij, said, “I can’t imagine the odds of actually seeing this behavior.”

McCulloch Wade used a Sony Alpha A1 ILCE-1 camera and a 600mm FE f4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. The rig sat on a Really Right Stuff tripod with a ProMediaGear Katana Jr. gimbal head.

Visit Kathy’s website and follow her on Instagram.

The photo was one of over 770 that photographers entered into our competition. Last week, we featured him among the dozen finalists. Check out the links below for second and third place images as well as our finalists and honorable mentions.

Second place: fewer terns

Third Place: Roseate Spoonbills

See the contest finalists

See the honorable mentions of the competition

Enter your photos in our Bird Portrait Contest