Six days ago when I photographed an adult Great Horned Owl in one of their typical habitats around here, the middle of a tangled thicket of branches and twigs, I immediately thought of how different that setting was from the farm setting where I usually photograph them.
1/125, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
The majority of the Great Horned Owl photos I’ve posted to my blog were taken on our Montana family farm where I usually have a great view of the bird, unobstructed by branches and twigs or anything else. And since they live and roost in nearly 100 year old granaries and barns I typically get one of my favorite combinations in my photos – owls and old wood. My inclination to shoot in early morning adds another favorite element, beautiful warm light.
I photographed this fledgling Great Horned Owl in a granary auger cutout on the farm on June 23, 2010. It has everything I love about my farm owl photos – an unobstructed look at the bird, old wood and warm light. But it does require getting up early, especially in northern Montana in June. This photo was taken at 5:50 AM.
Last night I became curious about how long after sunrise this photo was taken. As we all know there’s a lot of garbage on the internet but I’m still amazed by how quickly and easily useful answers to obscure questions can be found with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. It took me less than10 seconds to determine that sunrise in Cut Bank, MT on 6/23/10 occurred at 5:27 AM. I wonder what my Grandpa Dudley (born in 1888) who built many of these old granaries would think of that!
So I’m sure I’d been up since about 4 AM. After all, that early in the morning I need coffee just to find my shutter button. I can’t drink coffee and photograph birds at the same time.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
How very different the farm setting is from the cluttered and messy setting I usually find the species in around here in northern Utah. This is the adult Great Horned Owl I photographed six days ago in Box Elder County. It’s a natural setting which always appeals to me but natural settings often have their downside with obstructing branches and twigs and annoying shadows. I’m glad I’m able to take both types of photos.
Sorry folks, I’m rambling. I wasn’t altogether sure where I was going with this post until I started to write and this is where I ended up. Needless to say, when it comes to birds and photography I have a lot of disparate thoughts. Connecting them can take some effort. And creativity…
Ron
PS – I guess I’m not through rambling. While writing this post I became curious about what percentage of the Great Horned Owl photos I’ve posted to my blog were taken on the farm versus those that were taken elsewhere, mostly here in Utah. So yes, I counted them. Over the years I’ve posted 176 Great Horned Owl photos to my blog. 122 of them were taken on the farm and nearly all of the rest in Utah. So 69% of my GHO photos are farm photos.
More useless trivia but I’m a trivia kinda guy.
With those “sleepy” eyes, looks like both owls could use a cuppa joe. ☕️
Your musings, ramblings, trivia, etc. are a big part of the charm of your blog. And I’m always happy to see and hear about your family farm (and fascinating family history!). ❤️
Thanks, Marty. The adult was sleepier than the youngster. In fact the young’un was pretty perky most of the time.
The first image is brilliant, so 10 out of 10 and a Koala Bear Stamp (yes, I know Koalas are not bears but the accolade is rarely given out).
I concur with your thoughts on coffee – the World’s and my favourite legal drug.
Gary, I’ll take your Koala Bear Stamp any ol’ day of the year, bear or not. Thank you.
Far better to be a trivia kind of guy than a trivial one! 😉
Other than that (and saying I adore both of these beautiful images), I really have nothing to add to the many very thoughtful comments of others today — Kris’s especially: “…someday it might be the best evidence of the powerful beauty and diversity this world once possessed.” So yes, you must get on that stick, Mr. D!
Good point about trivia vs. trivial, Chris.
“That stick” is one I avoid too often, in too many situations.
1. I love your rambling words.
2. I love your photos.
3. I love you.
(It’s a mission of mine to tell folks I love them. We don’t say it enough. We don’t hear it enough. So, whomever is reading this, I love you. )
Big smile here, Arwen. Love back to you.
W.O.W. That owl-on-the-barn shot is amazing, Ron. I know you’ve often said that you’d rather not feature human-made structures, but that part, in this case, really frames the owl beautifully. And the thoughts about the knots! As a family historian, in addition to being a birder, I love the image of your grandfather and his sons working on the barn together. Anyway… Congratulations on a lovely shot and such an interesting “set” of photos.
Thanks very much, Ellen.
There’s still lots of very old farm machinery on the farm. All that stuff has meaning for the entire family.
Love the contrast of these two – the precision of the granary construction – (look at the line of nail heads!), all the potential of life for that little owlet laid out in neat lines. And then the old master looking out of the mess that life so often is. Lovely, lovely!
Carolyn, every time I look at those old nails in my photos I think of my grandpa pounding them. Assisted by my uncle and possibly my dad when they were young.
For example, see that knot to the left of the owl? They knew of course that you shouldn’t drive nails through knots or close to them because if you’re successful (it isn’t easy) the wood will very likely split, especially at the end of a board. And in this case it did split. But whoever drove that nail didn’t have much choice because you need to put at least two nails at the end of those boards. These days we’d probably pre-drill the hole before driving the nail. And we might be using using screws instead of nails.
Do you ever drive up to Cut Bank anymore ? I just looked at it on Google Maps. Looks like a 500 mile jaunt. Is the farm still in your family ?
Gary, it’s been several years since I’ve been there. My bad back has really clipped my traveling wings lately.
It’s actually a 685 mile jaunt for me. Years ago it was almost exactly 750 before they “straightened” some of the roads and completed I-15.
And yes, my Dudley cousins still own most of it. I’m welcome there anytime.
Ron…I love all your bird pix, but your owls are my favorites. And, for me, all the tracery of branches here, soft and impressionistic, is an enhancement. Thank you!
Thank you, Kate.
Ron,
Great shots and, as the others have already said, we love your scientific and personal inputs. I’d love to even see a GHO close enough to photograph. My closest was out at FBWMA and it was sooooo far away, sitting in a nest with only the head showing, and obstructed by branches (you get the idea)! I just kept the shots to prove that I had seen one.
Speaking of FBWMA, I was out there last night and sadly saw very few birds but did see a lot of construction. What in the world are they doing to the road?
Best,
Stephen
“What in the world are they doing to the road?”
Stephen, it’s the new West Davis Corridor. It makes me sick just to see what they’ve done so far.
I hate to go to Farmington anymore because of all the development, roads and otherwise. They’ve absolutely ruined it.
Agreed
Owls would be so much easier to watch and to photograph if only they didn’t have the habit of being out and around during the night, and then hiding to be invisible during the day. How thoughtless of them!
Pure speculation now- I seem to recall that eating a creature that has died of botulism, transfers the toxin to the predator. Wondering if somehow a coyote “knows” that the kill was too easy, so the prey might be unhealthy and so dangerous.
Mikal, actually coyotes and some other mammals apparently aren’t seriously affected by ingested botulin toxin of moderate amounts. There’s been quite a discussion about that in the comments in that post.
Love it. Yes, you were definitely rambling. Bet the kids back in high school biology often said, “Wow, Mr. Dudley was sure rambling this morning.”
Rambling or not – a very nice and interesting post. I really like any reference to Great Horned Owls who are one of my favorite photo targets. I have about 400 plus GHO photos that I have kept. Almost without fail I have been able to get fairly close to them (including juveniles) and take their photos without them even looking concerned.
Everett, actually my kids usually liked my stories, rambling or not. Most of them were “country stories” that interested city kids and the more I talked about stuff like that the less time I had to be teaching academics that they had to remember for tests.
Little did most of them know that most of my stories were tied in to the lesson of the day so they helped my students to remember stuff. And I had a lot of fun telling those stories so it was a win/.win situation all around.
Thanks Ron – very well said. I believe I have stated in the past that I wish I had had you for my biology teacher way back there in 9th or 10th grade. I think your students for the most part found biology a very interesting subject.
Everett, I believe that since they are top predators, they really are not too concerned about other creatures like us. They don’t want to be hassled. But otherwise, we are too big to eat, so arouse little interest. “Just go away so I can go back to sleep”
That’s exactly how this second owl was acting, Mikal. So I went away.
Love your MT farm photos especially when you include a fond memory of a family member. Am a fellow lover of old wood and it sure provides a lovely albeit manmade setting for your owl photos.
“Love your MT farm photos especially when you include a fond memory of a family member.”
Kathleen, while I was composing this post I often thought of my cousin Ken Dudley. It was Ken who introduced me to these owls (they weren’t on the farm when I lived there) and if it weren’t for Ken I probably wouldn’t be photographing birds at all (I’ve told that story before). Sadly, Ken died a couple of years before the first photo above was taken but for me he’s always there in spirit.
“I need coffee just to find my shutter button.”
Boy, I know what you mean!
For bird photographers it’s a familiar refrain, isn’t it Ken.
What Lyle said –” a room in a museum full of all of your great horned owl
photos and commentary”–made me think of the possibility of a “Feathered
Photography” museum, and my hope that you’ve made some provision for the
collection and care for the body of your best work….maybe not a whole museum,
but certainly some form of preservation. It’s a sad thought– but someday it might be the best evidence of the powerful beauty and diversity this world
once possessed.
Kris, I’ve given some thought to preserving my photos but haven’t done much about it yet. I’ve gotta get on the stick!
Yes you do you are not getting any younger!!
My kind of “trivia” and ALWAYS my kind of photos! 😉 I never tire of GHO’s and absolutely luv yours in the old barn(s). 🙂 They can get a bit lost in the trees with twigs and the owl’s camoflauge. Summer DOES make for VERY early sunrises in MT…..
“Summer DOES make for VERY early sunrises in MT”
You ought to know! Thanks, Judy.
I can imagine a room in a museum full of all your Great Horned Owl photos and commentary. A very large room with walls covered in barn wood.
Ramble on, Ron. Your posts combine science, natural as well as personal history, and an incredible body of photographic work, so I am always happy to follow wherever your mind wanders.
“I am always happy to follow wherever your mind wanders.”
That leaves me a lot of leeway, Lyle. If you only knew where my mind wanders to sometimes you might be a little less generous… 🙂
But thank you very much for your kind words.
Powerful conjunction of two pictures of owls with dead and live wood. The first photo somehow reminds me of Andrew Wyeth paintings of Maine barns. Once in a while humans do seem to contribute something to the beauty of the world. Thank you Ron.
“Once in a while humans do seem to contribute something to the beauty of the world.”
It’s refreshing when that happens isn’t it Frances. Too bad it isn’t a more common occurrence.
Those granary photos are some of my favorites. Great way to start the day!
Thank you, Diane.
You forgot to figure the height of any mountain obstructions to that sunrise in 2010 for that beautiful wood-owl shot 🙂
Nope, didn’t forget. There are no mountains to the east on the farm. The mountains are to the west.
And even if there were mountains to the east, it wouldn’t change the time of official sunrise.