Tag: tyto alba

Winter Barn Owls In Flight

Normally it’s very difficult to find Barn Owls hunting in daylight but an extremely cold winter a few years ago caused some of them around here to continue hunting into mid-morning.  They were looking for voles in the wetlands and it was fascinating to watch and photograph them as they effortlessly cruised over the phragmites and grasses, occasionally turning abruptly and diving for prey.   1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in It was very cold and frosty with lots of moisture in the air which turned the sky background a color that appeals to me.     1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Sometimes they were low enough to get the Phragmites in the setting.  Phragmites is a scourge to wetland managers but I’ve always liked it for backgrounds. When the owls would fly west I would often get light on the entire  bird.     1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But when they flew east they were sidelit.  I like both effects.     1/3200, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in Partly because of their deeply set eyes it’s a challenge to get catch lights in Barn Owls.  But here the bird was hovering over prey and looking down at it so because of the behavior you wouldn’t expect to get…

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Barn Owl In Flight

Despite the simple gray background this is one of my favorite shots of a Barn Owl in flight.    1/2000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Getting a catch light in a Barn Owl in flight is no easy task due to their reluctance to fly in good light and their deeply set eyes.  This is one of my few shots where the early morning sun was low enough and its angle on the bird’s eye was just right to provide not only light in the eye but a good strong catch light.  The presence or absence of a catch light can make or break an image and I’m very glad I got one here. Ron    

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A Bevy Of Barn Owls

This past summer we found a wonderful family of Barn Owls on Antelope Island.  Of course they preferred one of the ugliest perches on the planet but what a treat to be able to photograph such a handsome familial group – presented here in ascending numbers of birds.  I’ll let the owls “speak” for themselves.    1/125, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4     1/100, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4        1/125, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4      1/80, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4      1/20, f/13, ISO 500, 500 f/4 These birds hung out together until mid-summer and then most of them dispersed.  I was delighted that the entire brood was raised successfully and hope the same thing happens this coming season. Ron  

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Barn Owls and Phragmites

Barn Owls are among my favorite avian subjects.  They’re uncommon, elusive and rarely active in daytime so they’re devilishly difficult to photograph in good light – especially in flight.   And they’re unique – so different from other owl species (heart-shaped facial disc, smaller eyes, a short squared tail and serrated central claws) that they’re given their own family classification – Tytonidae.  They’re the most wide-spread species of owl on earth, though their numbers are declining. Occasionally, very occasionally, I’ve had the opportunity to photograph them in daylight.  Around here they can sometimes be found hunting for voles at the edge of Phragmites stands at the local marshes during the early mornings of the coldest days of winter.   Phragmites is a very large perennial grass found in our wetlands that causes many problems for wetlands managers because it produces substances that are toxic to more beneficial species of marsh plants.     1/2000, f/8, ISO 400 1.4 tc As problematic as Phragmites can be I’ve found it to be a wonderful background for photographs of birds in flight.  And since these owls fly during daytime only when it’s very cold the Phragmites is often covered with heavy frost in the mornings which can soften the background and make it very pleasing to the eye.   If the grasses are close to the bird they appear fairly well-defined.      1/2000, f/8, ISO 400 1.4 tc But if they’re far away the bokeh of the background is softened even more, giving relatively subtle hints of texture and form.  I think the sharper foreground phrags in this photo…

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Antelope Island Barn Owl Family

There’ll be just a single image in today’s post – the majority of a large family of Barn Owls that are resident on Antelope Island this summer.    Canon 7D, 1/80, f/7.1, ISO 640, EV -1.00, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I have a special fondness for this species but like most avian photographers I’ve been frustrated by them because their almost strictly nocturnal habits make them extremely difficult to photograph (unless you use flash or some other form of artificial light, which I won’t do).  Occasionally I’ve been able to find one out and about during daytime in winter but that’s a relatively rare occurrence.  This is four of a family group of five or six that hang out on the north end of the island.  They are such striking and beautiful birds (in my opinion) that I find it a bit incongruous that they insist on roosting in the mornings on this decidedly unattractive perch.  But hey, if they like it – so do I.  Well, sort of… Since this post consists of only one image I decided to make it 1200 pixels wide instead of my usual 900.  Personally I always enjoy larger versions of images for their better detail.    Ron   

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Barn Owl in Flight – Finally Again!

It’s been over four years since I’ve been able to get flight shots of Barn Owls and it’s been a very long wait.   Typically Barn Owls hunt only at night but during the cruel winter of 2008 a few of them were forced to hunt in the morning hours just to survive and I was able to get quite a few nice shots of them in flight.  I haven’t seen them hunt in daylight since then, until just recently when I’ve discovered one individual that has been doing it regularly.    1/800, f/6.3, ISO 500 So far Mia and I have had two chances with this bird.  It was flying along the side of the road so I had to speed up to get in front of the owl then quickly turn around so I could photograph it as it flew toward us with the light at the best angle.   This owl was flying very fast toward an apparent destination (rather than hunting) so we’d get a few shots off as it passed by very quickly.     1/640, f/6.3, ISO 500 Then I’d very quickly turn around, race up the road to get ahead of the owl, turn around again and fire away as the bird flew by.     1/800, f/6.3, ISO 500 I was able to do that three times before I ran out of road.  Very exciting!      1/800, f/5.6, ISO 640 Then a few days later, as we were returning from a morning of photographing other birds after clouds had moved in and we…

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