Owls – Page 25 – Feathered Photography

Short-eared Owl With Prey, Coming At Me

I’m always happy when I can get decent images of an owl in flight. If they’re carrying prey it’s a bonus. And if the bird is flying toward me I often consider it icing on the cake – partly because those kinds of shots are so very often baited, decoyed, set up or called in. As always for me, these were not. I’ve posted one of these shots before but I hoped it might be interesting for some to see a sequence of images as this adult male Short-eared Owl flew toward me with a vole for its mate before veering off to my right. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This first image shows less detail and image quality because the owl was further away as it began to approach me but I decided to include it for context in the sequence. The lower background is sagebrush flats while the upper blues are Montana’s Centennial Mountains in shade. 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Four frames later the owl was significantly closer and flew almost directly at me before veering off – a pattern it followed more than once. I’d guess that it was his way of checking me out for any potential threat before delivering the vole. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Which he’s doing intently here. Eye contact can’t be much…

Barn Owl In Flight Among The Phragmites

It’s funny sometimes, what inspires my next blog post. In this case it was an unexpected and very kind and thoughtful email from one of my readers who is a huge fan of Barn Owls in natural settings. Thank you for the inspiration, Donna!

Juvenile Burrowing Owl Posing Up A Storm

The antics of Burrowing Owls are always entertaining but “personality” simply oozes out of the juveniles. 1/400, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This youngster had recently fledged and had begun to do a little exploring. On this early morning I found it on this perch just after sunrise. Thus was further away from the burrow than I’d seen any of the juveniles up to that point. 1/400, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Within just a few minutes it gave me a variety of interesting poses – first an enthusiastic yawn… 1/500, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in and then long and drawn out wing stretch with left foot extended… 1/500, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in which concluded with the wing down and partially hidden behind the rock. Soon after this shot was taken the bird flew back to the comfort and security of the burrow and the rest of its family. Ron

Great Horned Owl Framed By Tamarisk

Typically when I find a Great Horned Owl in a natural setting it’s so deeply buried in the tree or foliage that it can barely be seen. This is a deliberate behavior, at least in part to avoid mobbing birds of many species. Crows, for example, will invariably mob an exposed GHO, pursuing it from tree to tree and calling out to other crows to recruit them to join in. 1/800, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This owl, and one other, perched in the tamarisk for about a week but on most days they were virtually impossible to see unless you knew where to look. But on two cold, early mornings I found one of them in this spot where it was exposed to the warming rays of the sun. Its breast and belly feathers are wet, as are the drooping ear tufts. These birds sleep during much of the day but their slumber is light and alert as evidenced by their ear tuft (“horn”) movements in response to any slight sound, even with eyes closed – a behavior that’s interesting to observe if you’re lucky enough to be sufficiently close to a sleeping owl. Ron

Barn Owls On Unnatural Perches

It’s been a while since I’ve seen any Barn Owls out and about and I’m thinking they won’t be flying again during daytime until at least next winter so I decided to bid them adieu for the present with one last post for the season. I generally prefer my avian subjects on natural perches but Ingrid Tayler’s affection for birds on man-made perches in the urban landscape is beginning to instill in me a little more flexibility. Perhaps it isn’t too late for some new tricks from this old dog… 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light, not baited set up or called in At Farmington Bay WMA there are numerous signs posted directing hunters to where they can hunt and where they cannot and those signs are favorite resting spots for hunting raptors. When I come across an owl on one of these signs I’ll typically drive on by unless there’s a possibility for take-off shots but I made an exception for this one despite the less than ideal light. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited set up or called in Another favorite perch is this kestrel nesting box at the top of a hill. From this elevated vantage point the birds can hunt visually over a large area without expending the energy required for flight – a significant advantage in the depths of a long, cold winter when calories are at a premium. This owl looks like it might be wary of me and about to fly, but it isn’t. It was calmly…

Short-eared Owl Tattoo – A Work In Progress

Something a little different from me this time… In the past I’ve had a wide variety of requests for use of my images, including such disparate projects as prints, magazine and book publications, non-profit scientific and educational organizations (which I nearly always allow without a fee), fancy rubber stamps, uses by painters and other artists as subjects for their work, an image to be lacquered into the top of the communal dining table of a new fire station in Temecula, California and several of my Northern Harrier (a type of hawk) images have been used in the AV8B Harrier (jump-jet) pilot training software at the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, California. But a few weeks ago I got something new for me – a request to use one of my avian images for a very large, “photo – realistic” tattoo. Jenna, from New Zealand, contacted me and requested to use this image of a female Short-eared Owl in flight (with brood patch visible on the belly) as the basis for the tattoo. Her tattoo artist, Matt Jordan of Ship Shape Tattoo, Orewa, New Zealand, needed a high-resolution version of the image in order to get enough detail to make the very large tattoo photo-realistic. Even though this shot was taken in extremely low light and doesn’t have quite as much detail as most of my photos, in the end there was enough. Matt Jordan is apparently very talented and in high demand so it took Jenna several months to get the project started. It’s a long, drawn out and painful process. Jenna’s first session with Matt lasted for 6…

Short-eared Owl Perch-hunting

A couple of weeks ago I posted two shots of this Short-eared Owl perched on this frost-covered rabbitbrush. In those images the bird was reacting to me which isn’t really a natural behavior. A direct look toward the viewer from those strikingly colorful eyes is certainly riveting but more natural behaviors also appeal to me. 1/500, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 t c, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Short-eared Owls hunt primarily “on the wing” – they’re typically not “sit and wait” hunters like many other raptors. But this bird noticed what was probably a vole at the base of the rabbitbrush and its reaction to it was obvious. It stared intently down for some time which resulted in a natural pose that I like. Ron

Juvenile Burrowing Owl Parallaxing

Parallax is the effect where the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions. When an observer moves, the apparent relative motion of several stationary objects against a background gives hints about their relative distance which the brain can interpret to provide absolute depth information. As you can imagine this can be very helpful to birds for flight and for judging prey position. The movement required comes automatically during flight but it can also be provided while perched by exaggerated movements of the head in all three dimensions. Tipping the head also provides cues by changing the relative position of the eyes to the object being viewed. Learning to interpret this information takes practice so many juvenile birds do just that, owls in particular. Techs for the following images – most were taken at 1/640 or 1/800, f/9, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in. All images presented in the order they were taken. Several years ago I spent a lot of time over several weeks photographing a family of Burrowing Owls along the causeway to Antelope Island. Their burrow was very close to the road and they became almost completely acclimated to traffic so I was able to observe and photograph many interesting behaviors of both juveniles and adults from my pickup. Here, this juvenile is simply ignoring me (for the sake of convenience I’ll refer to this bird as a male though I have no idea what sex it…

Great Horned Owls In The Montana Wind

I’ve posted before about the Great Horned Owls on the family farm in nw Montana. That farm is near Cut Bank, Montana which is famous (infamous) for its howling winds. 1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in So many of my images of those farm owls show the effects of the wind on the owls. The wind was only moderate when I took this shot so about the only effect you can see from it is the leaning ear tufts (horns). Even at this wind speed you can hear it whistling through the granary cutouts where these birds like to perch When I’m shooting from a tripod instead of from my pickup it’s difficult to get sharp shots because of the effects of the wind on my long lens. 1/160, f/10, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But when the wind really howls the birds seek refuge. This owl liked to hunker down deep in this Poplar tree as an escape. It was so deeply buried in the tree that I could only get fleeting glimpses of it when the wind would blow some of the branches and leaves in front of the bird to the side. At times the wind would blow the ear tufts almost flat on its head. This owl is leaning into the wind to keep from being blown off the perch. 1/500, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4…

Short-eared Owl Taking Off In Low Light

This male Short-eared Owl was taking off from the sagebrush plains of Montana’s Centennial Valley. 1/1600. f/5.6. ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I got three shots in the sequence that I liked well enough to keep. At lift-off he was heading mostly in my direction. I was shooting from my pickup and the vehicle didn’t intimidate him in the least. 1/2000. f/5.6. ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Almost immediately he began to veer off to my left… 1/1600. f/5.6. ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in and then gave me a side view as he flew off to hunt voles for his family (female and two chicks). I’ve never posted this sequence before because the very low light forced me to shoot at ISO 800 which is really pushing it for my Canon 7D so there’s some resulting noise in the images. I don’t like to use noise reduction but I’ve applied it to the backgrounds only for this presentation. Like I said in my last post, every image has strengths and weaknesses and the low light I was dealing with (especially for flight shots) forced me into some compromises for these images. They may not be perfect but I’m still happy to have them. Ron

A Tale OF A Barn Owl Tail

I learned something this morning. It will likely seem inconsequential to others but it was sort of a big deal for me. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in A few minutes ago, while processing this recent Barn Owl image, I was once again struck by how short and stubby the square tail of this species is, especially when compared to the length of the wings. And then some faint memory from long ago popped into my head. Bingo! Now it all made sense. 1/320, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in By coincidence, exactly 5 years ago today I posted this image to an online nature photography critique forum (Nature Photographers Network or NPN). At the time I was just becoming serious about my bird photography and I took the critiques I got on that forum to heart – trying to learn from my mistakes and improve my skills. In the version of the photo I submitted to NPN I didn’t recognize the “structure” marked with the red arrow as being part of the bird so I had cropped the image in such a manner that I “clipped” the tip of that structure. The critiques I got from the members of the forum “dinged” me for it, and rightfully so. They all said that I had clipped the tail and in my inexperience I assumed they were right and went on with my life. But I felt pretty silly…

Short-eared Owl In A Snowy Setting

I’ve had very few good opportunities with Short-eared Owls in winter but yesterday morning along the causeway to Antelope Island my luck changed a bit for the better. It was overcast but there was almost 6″ of fresh snow on the ground which helped slightly by reflecting some of the available light onto the bird. The setting in these three images is “high key” (light color tones with little contrast) because of all the snow. The background is the snow-covered lakebed of the Great Salt Lake. High key images don’t appeal to everyone. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Northern Harriers and Rough-legged Hawks often hunt the causeway so when I first came across this owl my camera settings were already set for possible flight shots. I snapped off a few images at those settings before I made adjustments. I wasn’t particularly happy with the vegetation in front of the bird… 1/500, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in but it soon flew a few hundred feet west along the causeway and perched on a rabbitbrush that gave a slightly better view of the owl. For this shot I had maneuvered my position to get some very out of focus vegetation in the mid-background to provide at least a little bit of color back there but the difference is only slight. 1/500, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up…

Nothing Wrong With A Butt Shot Now And Again…

This isn’t the sharpest image in my portfolio but it does intrigue me. A lot. Six days ago this Barn Owl made an unsuccessful plunge into the deep snow for a vole and soon after took off almost directly away from me. This is one of the images I got as it lifted off in the direction of its favorite hill-top perch – a “butt shot” to be sure but I’m fascinated by the wing angle and position. 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This shot caught the wings toward the end of the upstroke. The primary feathers at the end of the wings are in what appears to be an almost perfectly vertical position to allow for very little air resistance as they move to a higher position in preparation for the powered downstroke but the secondary feathers are pointed almost directly back at me. The skeletal structure of a bird’s wing is homologous (similar in position, structure, and evolutionary origin but not necessarily in function) to the forelimb of most other vertebrates (including humans) with a humerus, then radius and ulna, then metacarpals and finally phalanges at the end. Like humans, the joint between the radius/ulna and the metacarpals is the carpal or “wrist” joint (see here if you’re curious and/or confused by the anatomy). So the “wrist” is the joint between the primary and secondary wing feathers. Our wrist or carpal joint can be “bent” up or down and left or right but it cannot be rotated (try holding your…

Barn Owl Hunting Adaptations And Techniques

One more Barn Owl post and then I’ll give them a rest for a while. Lately I’ve spent a lot of time watching these birds hunt and I’ve become intrigued by the process and their adaptations for doing so. Hunting over deep snow presents unique challenges because their prey (typically voles) spends most of their time in tunnels under the surface, so the owls are often hunting by sound alone. According to Birds of North America Online (out of Cornell) Barn Owls hunt prey by sound more effectively than any other animal ever tested (I’m unsure if this statement takes into account the use of sonar by cetaceans and ultrasonic sounds by bats but BNA seldom gets things like this wrong). 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in They fly low and slow over the surface while watching and listening but with this much snow they usually locate the voles only by sound. Notice that they can tuck their legs up into their ventral feathers so far that only the feet are visible. It’s amazing that they can do so because… 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in as you can see in this “butt shot” those legs are incredibly long. This is an adaptation for grasping prey through deep vegetation or snow. Their claws (nails) are unusually long and sharp and the middle nail has a pectinate inner edge, most likely an adaptation for grasping prey…

Barn Owl Hunting Over A Hoarfrosted Hill

The Barn Owls are still hunting sporadically during daylight in northern Utah. I’ve seen them doing so in a variety of areas and heard reports of it happening elsewhere. Some areas near the Great Salt Lake are literally “magical wonderlands” in the early mornings due to the thick layer of hoarfrost that covers nearly everything. The frost falls off the vegetation during the day, then reforms during the night. The hoarfrost produces a setting for my images that appeals to me. The camera settings for the images in this post were: 1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4. The owl was not baited, set up or called in. Yesterday morning this owl was hunting along the upper edge of a steep-sided hill as it came in my general direction and then rounded the hill to my right. In the first four shots you can see that its attention is riveted to the side of the hill where the snow cover is much less deep than it is everywhere else, which would increase the chances of spotting a vole. I chose to compose these images a little differently so that the frost-covered hunting ground becomes almost as important to the image as the bird. If you have any thoughts on this composition I’d be interested in hearing them. As the bird rounded the hilltop and got closer to me the frosted vegetation became more dominant in the images. You can see that the snow on the hillside is patchy (most of the white is frost) so I believe that…

Category: Owls