Yesterday morning this Short-eared Owl showed me a new wrinkle in takeoff angles.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I found the bird perched on a post in Box Elder County, Utah. This owl and several others were quite cooperative but I wish I could say the same for the clouds and light. As you’ll notice in these images both the light and my shutter speeds were fluctuating wildly and swiftly which had a dramatic effect on the quickly changing backgrounds. As I waited for this bird to take off my shutter speed varied from 1/2500 to 1/8000 sec.
1/6400, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
The owls I photographed yesterday morning were hunting voles from fence posts so when they took off after prey the rodents were usually quite close to the post which sometimes made for unusual-looking takeoffs. At this point the launch looks fairly typical but at the last second…
1/8000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
the owl used its legs to push its rump up which dramatically changed the angle of the body of the bird as it lifted off. This is a takeoff posture that I’ve never before photographed in a Short-eared Owl so I was very happy to capture it.
I never did see one of these owls capture prey but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Ron
Having hunted voles all winter with Jack the Harris’ hawk, I can tell you that those little boogers are only visible for about a nanosecond and then they rapidly disappear into the grasses and other stuff. Roughly calculated (estimated), I think Jack caught one for every 10-ish flights. But he quickly learned that he needed lower perches and that his human slave would get there ASAP and move the grasses around to encourage more movement. He was particularly effective when a friend carried his pole perch, which put him about two feet above the friend’s head, and a couple of times when he hunted from a perch on MY head. 😀
We had a lot of fun chasing them. I think Jack liked it a bunch because he got to eat his kill, popping them back like popcorn! We hope to get some more if the weather ever warms to where my hands will work and Jack can fly. Being a warm-weather bird, he and I both like above-freezing temps. Right now, the temps are below freezing. Thanks a lot for sending this weather here, Ron! That said, I’m sure you were glad to be rid of it. DURGH! 🙂
How considerate of the owl to show you a new perspective. Just when you think you have seen it all…
I do hope that out of camera range they did succeed in catching a (poor) vole or two. The energy requirements of being a bird are so very high…
I suspect they were eventually successful, EC. Based on all the attempts they were making there must have been a lot of those little rodents scurrying around in the grass.
When Gretsky retired, I stopped watching hockey…when Michael Jordan retired, I stopped watching basketball, when Jeeter retired, I stopped watching baseball ( and rooting against the Yankees,even thoughI did like Jeeter….)
With Wayne Gretzky’samazing peripheral vision, he probably would make a great photographer or photographer’s spotter….
Good point, Patty. He’s retired now – I’ll have to ask him if he wants to make some extra cash by working as my spotter. But he’d have to be pretty darned good to be better than Mia and she doesn’t charge me. So far…
Nice shots of an interesting bird…especially like the angle, detail and position of the bird in the first shot…beautiful!
Thank you, Patty.
Great find and shots Ron!
Thanks, Charlotte.
Ron:
Yes, great shots, you really overcame the problems at hand. I have a friend who stated “you can crawl 100 yards through the mud, be bitten by 100 mosquitoes, and if it is a bad shot, it is a bad shot.” But fellow photographers appreciate a really good shot taken under adverse conditions, such as these. Thanks for sharing!
Your friend’s philosophy is spot on, Richard. Thanks for sharing it.
Great shots Ron, even with the light problems.
Brings Memories – took my family in 1972 birding across country, stopped at Lostwood in N Dakota during the 4th of July. Staff wanted time off, put my camper beside the HQ and me in charge for the weekend. Enjoyed that stay immensely!! Took a ride with my son and came up next to a Short-eared on a post just like in your picture. He/she wasn’t afraid of us, we stayed in the car and watched it hunt. Great experience for both Dad and son!!!
Thanks for sharing.
That sounds like a fantastic experience for both you and your son, Dick. Priceless memories!
Beautiful shots of one of my favorite birds. They really are stunning.
Thanks very much, Larry.
Hi Ron,
Love the shots, incredible as usual! 🙂 I’m wondering what kind of processing you do? The images look so very clean, sharp and natural; not overdone like so many you see..
Thanks!
Bill R
Thanks for noticing, Bill. Over-processed images leave me cold, especially in nature photography. Over saturated/over sharpened images look to me like ridiculous cartoon characters.
Here’s everything I did when processing these images:
* In ACR I cropped and did some minor exposure adjustment to the second image to get the underwing whites under control. There were no exposure adjustments done to the other 2 images.
* I then pulled the images into Photoshop and selectively sharpened only the bird and perch.
* Then I added my copyright watermark and I was done.
This is all I do to over 95% of my images. Occasionally I’ll add a small amount of saturation and/or contrast to images that have been taken in very low light but even that I don’t do often.
Beautiful! Owls are a favorite of mine. 🙂 You obviously made the best of the rapidly changing light. The energy, it appears, that they use for not always fruitful results is interesting – must be able to spare it.
“must be able to spare it”
I don’t think they have a choice, Judy. If they don’t try they don’t succeed. As hockey player Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take”.
Yes, the light was incredibly variable. I don’t think I’ve ever had to fiddle so much with my camera settings in such a short time as when I was photographing some of these owls.