Photographer Henrik Nilsson captured amazing action photos as a marsh hawk, also known as a northern harrier, roused a short-eared owl and stole its meal in mid-air.
A nature and wildlife photographer, Nilsson shared his awesome images on Reddit’s Wildlife Photography subreddit. He then explained to PetaPixel how he captured the in-flight theft.
“I took these a few years ago on the very last day of the year, December 31st. It was near the end of the day as I was walking along a dyke back to my vehicle,” Nilsson explains. “Fortunately I still had my camera and tripod over my shoulder rather than back in my camera bag, all of a sudden the short-eared owl was flushed out of the long grass near the dyke by the harrier. So as fast as I could, I set up my gear once more.”
The action photos show the value of being in the right place at the right time and prepared for anything. You never know what you will see when out in the field.
“What ensued could only be described as an aerial battle. As best it could, the owl would climb, dive and make sharp turns. But it just couldn’t get away from the female northern harrier. In the end, the owl decided to drop its prize: a vole.”
Nilsson captured the images in British Columbia, Canada, using a Canon EOS R5 mirrorless camera and Canon 600mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. He captured both photos at 1/2,000s, f/6.3, and ISO 1,000 in manual mode.
A seasoned photographer with over 20 years of wildlife photography experience and an incredible portfolio of work, Nilsson says that while this particular moment happened especially quickly, it was years in the making.
“Over the years, wildlife has taught me to expect the unexpected. And I’ve come across northern harries stealing from owls in the past,” the photographer says. “But those encounters were always too far away or they happened after the light was too low for photography. I shoot in manual mode when the light is fairly constant and adjust the settings as the light changes. Because of that, I was ready to press the shutter in mere seconds.”
“Without a doubt, my heart rate jumped as soon as I realized what was going on.”
The scene was a great example of what Nilsson considers to be one of the most challenging aspects of photographing birds in flight: Reading the situation.
“That often varies from encounter to encounter,” he says. “Sometimes you need to walk away if you’re affecting behavioral change in the birds you’re photographing. Other times, the challenge is to figure out where the action is going to be as opposed to where it is.”
As he says, that sometimes means you must walk away from a good shot to put yourself in a better position to capture a great one.
“It doesn’t always pay off, Nilsson admits. “But when it does, it’s magical.”
Henrik Nilsson also does a lot of wildlife filmmaking, which he says comprises about 95% of his work these days. He shares his photos and videos on Instagram and YouTube. He also has a website every wildlife photography fan should check out.
Image credits: Henrik Nilsson
