The snowy owl dove to the ground and grabbed the blue-necked duck weighing 1.3 kg to fly away, but then dropped its prey.
Photographer Stephen Shea photographed a snowy owl’s hunting trip near the southern coast of Maine, United States, on May 25. His target is a blue-necked duck weighing about 1.3 kg lying on the snowy ground. Shea observed the event from a distance of only 30 meters.
“Before I knew it the snowy owl had grabbed the duck with its claws and lifted it up. I saw the blue-necked duck with its mouth wide open, but due to the strong wind I couldn’t hear it clearly, ”said Shea.
The blue-necked duck struggled to escape the clutches of the hungry snowy owl, even biting the owl a few times. In the end, the hunter picked up his prey and flew about two meters high, but then dropped it again.
“I was very excited when I took these photos and I was pretty happy with myself because the weather was bad and difficult to take. I think the photos were still pretty good at the end,” Shea explained. .
Snow owls (Bubo scandiacus) are native to the arctic regions of North America and the Archean. They can grow to over two feet in length, often hunting small mammals, birds, and sometimes fish, insects and crustaceans.
Blue-necked ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) are widely distributed in freshwater areas of Asia, Europe and North America. Their average length is 50 to 66 cm. They rarely dive deeply, but spend much of their time on the surface, searching for invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and a variety of plants. In addition, they also feed on land.
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