Category: Owls

Barn Owls in Flight

Flight shots of Barn Owls are very difficult to get because these birds are almost strictly nocturnal and typically fly and hunt only at night.  Photographing birds in flight in the dark or very low light is virtually impossible without using artificial lighting methods which I will not do for ethical reasons. Barn Owl in flight during in full daylight   I had never even seen a Barn Owl in flight until the winter of 2007-08.  That unusually frigid winter began early and brought more snow than usual to the valleys of Utah.  Suddenly, during January and much of February, Barn Owls were hunting the marshes close to the Great Salt Lake during daytime – sometimes until 10 or 11 AM.  Their usual strategy was to hunt for voles (very similar to mice) along the edges of Phragmites growth in the wetlands.  Typically it was very cold on those mornings – often between 0 and +20 degrees Farenheit which made it very uncomfortable standing outside in front of a tripod mounted camera for hours on end!  I very nearly lost some digits to frostbite many times but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.    Barn Owl hunting voles along frosty Phragmites edges I usually preferred to get Phragmites in the backgrounds of my flight shots if possible because they make such a nice backdrop.  In the photo above, there had been heavy fog with sub freezing temperatures so literally everything was covered with a heavy coating of frost.  A magical setting.        Barn Owl skimming Phragmites in background Sometimes the…

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Photographing Birds on Antelope Island

  My previous post was an overview of the geology of Antelope Island and its non-bird wildlife.  Here, I’ll focus on its birds.   Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike begging for food Loggerhead Shrikes are common on many parts of the island during summer.  They can be a challenge to approach but those few that nest close to the road eventually get used to traffic so if you photograph from your vehicle you can often get quite close.  Here this juvenile was begging for food that was being delivered by a parent just out of frame to the left.    Loggerhead Shrike with dragonfly  Shrikes are often called “butcher birds” for their practice of temporarily impaling their prey on thorns or other sharp projections.   This juvenile had done just that with the dragonfly but it wasn’t very good at it yet and in the end just decided to eat it instead of store it away.     Loggerhead Shrike with spider Shrikes are opportunistic carnivores known to feed on insects, spiders, amphibians, small reptiles, rodents and other birds.   This one also attempted to impale the prey before eating it.     Juvenile Burrowing Owl practicing its parallax technique on me Burrowing Owls are one of my favorite species on the island though they can be difficult to locate from year to year as they often don’t seem to nest in the same burrow the next year.  In the summer of 2009 there was an entire family of owls along the causeway to the island nesting under concrete rubble, as in the…

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The Frustrations of Unnatural Perches

Most bird photographers prefer their subjects to be on natural perches.  We are, after all, nature photographers.  The definition of just what is “natural” becomes a slippery slope for sure but for my purposes I’ll define a natural perch by exclusion – it does not include buildings, telephone poles and wires, chunks of concrete, signs, or most anything else that is obviously man-made. Now for my exceptions.  Some objects that are man-made and have a “rustic” quality are often acceptable.  Weathered fence posts, old barns and rusty barbed wire would be examples.  One of the major frustrations of bird photographers is to be able to finally get close to a beautiful subject in good light but the bird has chosen an ugly or inappropriate (for us) man-made perch.  It is typically very difficult to approach many bird species close enough to get excellent detailed photos, even with big expensive lenses.  So it can be aggravating in the extreme to finally get close enough but the bird has chosen an unappealing perch.  Some folks choose to largely avoid this problem by shooting at “setups” where the bird has been unnaturally lured into an artificial situation by provided food with attractive perches arranged close by.  To many of us this is not nature photography but more like studio or zoo photography.  Good bird photography ain’t easy.  If it were it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying when I do finally get the shot I’m after – even though the pursuit has often been frustrating.  Below are some of the situations where I’ve been frustrated by these unattractive, unnatural perches.        Most bird photographers know…

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Great Horned Owls on the Farm

For perhaps twenty years now there has been at least one pair of nesting Great Horned Owls on the farm where I grew up near Cut Bank, Montana.  They were never there when I was a kid but they’ve sure taken to it since.   This farm still seems like home to me and I return to it at least once every year for a visit with family and of course to check up on the owls.  It’s the perfect place for these birds as it’s isolated, there are many old barns and granaries for the owls to find sanctuary and mice, voles and the ubiquitous Richardson’s Ground Squirrels (gophers) are everywhere.  Both the owls and I love the place! Great Horned Owl in a barn cutout Most often I prefer my birds on natural perches but there’s just something about owls and old barn wood that appeals to me.  I think owls, particularly Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls, often just seem to “fit” in many rustic settings.  In the image above, I like the warm tones of the bird contrasting with the cooler tones of the black background and some of the wood.  Juvenile (no “horns” yet) in warm, early morning light The youngster above was sitting in an east facing cutout in an old granary just as the sun came up.  The effect of the warm light on both bird and wood is fairly dramatic (no saturation added).  This juvenile is wet from the dew, thus the “spikiness” on the top of the head.  They look very different from the…

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A Bitter Lesson in Depth of Field

  I have spent many hours photographing Burrowing Owls over the past two summers but it’s a real challenge to get clear shots of them as they typically stay on the ground and are usually at least partially obscured by vegetation.  For me it’s a real coup to get one on an elevated, natural perch in good light. Last week I had a wonderful opportunity with them and simply blew it.  As we approached our “owl spot” we noticed that there were three of them perched up high on a sagebrush in beautiful early morning light.  I maneuvered my pickup for the best light angle I could get and to obtain separation of the owls from each other.  Everything perfect.  And all three birds gave us a variety of interesting poses for several minutes.  I had noticed that the owl on the left was perhaps a foot (or slightly less) closer to us than the other two birds so I was concerned about depth of field.  I seldom shoot multiple subjects and typically with only one bird I’m shooting at f/6.1 – f/8 depending on the situation.  Knowing I needed more DOF here I dialed in f/13 thinking that would be plenty to get all three birds sharp.   The image below is typical of the results I got.  Burrowing Owl – Canon 7D, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, 1/200, f/13, ISO 500, cropped to 77% of original image   The owl on the left is noticeably soft.  That is quite apparent at a larger image size, say 1200 pixels, though not quite so obvious at this…

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The Short-eared Owls of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

  Male Short-eared Owl with a vole for the family  Red Rock Lakes NWR is simply a wonderful spot on this ol’ earth.  Located in SW Montana about halfway between Yellowstone National Park on the East and Interstate 15 on the west, it lies in a beautiful high elevation valley and the setting is stunning.  It’s not for the faint of heart though as the weather holds many potentially nasty surprises and the access to the refuge is primitive at best.  But that’s one of the things I love about Red Rock.    In late June we had the place mostly to ourselves, which is ideal for me.    Coyotes howling, other  mammals  in abundance, birds plentiful, wildflowers galore, spectacular mountain scenery, amazing sunrises and sunsets, weather surprises, bad roads to limit visitation, isolation and especially those incredible Short-eared Owls.   I love this place!    Female at the nest with one of two youngsters  On our second day there we found a pair of nesting Short-eared Owls with two youngsters.  The nest was at the base of a sagebrush within a few feet of a road.  I have a (very unscientific) theory as to why these birds would make their nest so close to a road with regular traffic.   Coyotes are very common on the refuge – we heard them howling often and would see them but they were seldom close to any road.   They seem to avoid roads whenever possible.   A nest on the ground would be very vulnerable to coyote predation.  So I wonder if the choice to build…

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