From various reports I have read, this species seems to be on the move this winter. The short-eared owl is known to be a nomadic species, moving in search of food.

This photo was taken 1 minute before 5PM. There are street lamps lining the road here which helps with keeping the ISO settings on the camera at a raesonable level. ISO 32,000 is very doable on the R6 MK2. Infact I have photographed foxes at ISO 204,000. Here's one example below in the link.

Link to article on The Weather Network "Top 5 Photos That Caught Our Attention" by The WeatherNetwork and as voted on by viewers.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/nature/outdoors/year-in-review-top-5-photos-that-caught-our-attention-in-2023