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 more direct than this.
1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in
And then he started to veer off toward the nest. This is the image that I’d posted before but that was long ago when I was posting smaller 720 pixel images, so I reprocessed this shot and I think it looks significantly better at this larger size.
Ron
beautiful shots! I was impressed with the DOF as well.What is 1.4 tc something to do with compensation, or tele-converter?
Jane, it’s a 1.4 teleconverter. I use it most of the time.
What a vantage point Ron!. I like seeing them in a sequence, but the last one is really awesome with the wings forming a diagonal across the frame!
I like that diagonal comp too, Maria.
This one gave me a chill —- and a new sense of the meaning of “One Touch of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin”. What a treat —– many thanks.
Love that Shakespeare quote, Harmony.
Daily addiction fed. Thank you. Owls are right up there on my most favourite bird list.
Delighted to continue to nurture your addiction, Elephant’s Child 🙂
Outstanding photographs! If the owl didn’t already have a vole, I’d be thinking about rolling up the truck window with that kind of eye contact! Simply superb!
He does look pretty intent, coming directly toward the viewer like this – doesn’t he, Wally?
Indeed icing on the cake, Ron! what a great way to start my day seeing these amazing photos of the lovely SEO head on flight with prey in a super background! Thank you for sharing. I thought these guys are super fast. Great that you had no problem getting them sharp head on with 1/1000s. Great info for me.
Hi Tin, Yes, you picked up on that well – they normally don’t fly particularly fast, which allowed me to get these shots as sharp as I did.
Every time I see an owl’s focused “locked and loaded” face, I’m very glad I’m not a small furry critter. Your photos make me squeak! Thank you for posting!
“Your photos make me squeak!”
That didn’t just have me smiling, Mikal – it caused an extended and hearty guffaw! Thanks for the fun of that comment!
Beautiful sequence Ron ! The background colors ( and the limited DOF) really make the SEO standout.
Thanks, John.
Love these images! Owls are fun to study because of the unconfirmed evolutionary path they took. They are more closly related to the common nighthawk (non-raptor) and a parrot than they are to Hawks and Falcons. Yet they are Birds of Prey and qualify as a Raptor(just cuz you’re a raptor, doesn’t mean you’re related to other raptors). Owls are included in the practice of Falconry and “share” hunting grounds with Hawks. I say “share” because given the right lighting, a Hawk will kill an Owl, or an Owl will kill a Hawk. They tend to respect each others “time to hunt”……
Tim
Thanks, Tim. Agreed, though I have seen Northern Harriers hassle hunting Short-eared Owls. But then shorties are less nocturnal than many owl species.
Sometimes I fly Sakura(Female Red-tailed Hawk) near dusk because of my schedule. As soon as that sun starts going down behind the mountain, she starts missing her marks, even slipping arfter landing. Its amazing how much of her ability depreciates without full daylight! Ooh and hear come the Barn Owls….those super stealthy acrobats. I don’t know the Short-Eared Owls….something new to look up. 🙂
Tim
Just curious, I suspect that most of your shots are hand held?
Almost none of my shots are actually HH, Dick. Roughly 95% of them (including these images) are shot from my pickup window using a “Noodle” for support (love that Noodle!). Most of the other 5% are shot from a tripod. About the only time I shoot the 500mm hand-held is if I need to unexpectedly hop out of the pickup for a grab shot of a bird flying overhead. Oh, I also shoot the 100-400mmm hand held some of the time but that’s easy compared to the 500mm beast and I don’t use that smaller lens all that often.
I only have the 100-400 Canon L lens w/1.4x, and a 70-300, and have shot hand held, but with increasing age, even with stabilization, it is becoming more difficult with the 100-400. However, I like the idea of a “noodle”, is that the same as a bean bag?
I really like the view of your shots, many are at eye level, or at least give that impression. Gives a very nice perspective of the subject.
I know what you mean, Dick. I have familial tremors, so shooting hand held for me is very difficult, even with image stabilization.
No, the noodle is very different from a bean bag. It’s a pool “noodle”, the kind kids use to bash each other around swimming pools. It’s a wonderful support for shooting from a vehicl. See the last shot in this post – you can see a duct tape wrapped noodle on each of the right side windows of my pickup.
https://featheredphotography.com/blog/2011/08/29/a-license-to-bird/
Thanks for the tip!
I’m going out to get a noodle today, so all my pictures will be as good as yours!
(OK, maybe there are a few more tips I’ll need to learn as well…)
Excellent, kudos, great job!!
Short-eared’s are an interesting owl and these shots DOF are spot on.
Great series in an unusual pose, many thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Dick. I was lucky with the DOF – the light was so low that at these settings I wouldn’t have had enough DOF if the bird hadn’t been coming mostly toward me.