I’m finding a fair number of Short-eared Owls on this trip to Montana and Idaho and like our birds in Utah they like to perch on and take off from fence posts. But this male actually took off from the ground.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
It had landed there yesterday morning apparently in pursuit of prey but it was unsuccessful. So I trained my lens on him as best I could in the deep grasses and waited for him to take off. I liked the actual lift-off image except for the fact that his eye was half closed so I chose to post the next image in the series. I wish there were more light in his eye but I do like the flight posture.
I’m still having focusing issues with either my 500mm lens or my 7D Mark II (I suspect the latter) but they’re intermittent and tracking down the actual source is problematic (to say the least) while I’m on the road and working with this laptop. So I’ve been shooting with different combinations of lenses and cameras and I’ll attempt to decipher the results when I get home.
In the meantime I’ve been seeing a fair number of interesting birds and today I spent many hours exploring some of the most incredible and remote wilderness landscapes I’ve ever experienced.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Ron
I didn’t think we had the SEO here, but according to the map they are here during the winter. We will have to drive out to some remote areas and see if we can find one or two. Beautiful shot Ron. I love their coloring. I too vote for landscape scenes. But then, I am a country girl at heart.
Colour me jealous. And colour me grateful that you share the magic.
Hey EC,
Do the feathers on this owl count as britches or are they leggings?
Pam
They too are britches, just not as stylish as some…
Nice to see so many SEO again. I am so happy they are having a good year reproducing. It is so refreshing being out in nature where you are not sharing your hector with fellow humans. You should post a few scenic shots too. I think your reader would enjoy those also.
Like Kris, I hope you share some landscape shots, too…it gives us a sense of place and context and allows us to see some beautiful country we can’t see otherwise….I love this owl’s fuzzy feet!!!
I’m holding my breath in regards to your truck! Do you have time for a report?
I guess the truck is okay? Sorry about the camera issues but would be more worried about being stuck somewhere w/o transportation.
Nice image Ron. You are really getting to see a lot of short-eared owls this year! Living vicariously through your images of them :-).
Hope you resolve the focusing issues. I recently started to use my 7D2 since I had to send in the 1DX to CPS due to what looks like oil splatter on the sensor. I really notice a difference in focusing speed and accuracy on the 7D2 compared to the 1DX and 5D3 that I did not really notice before. I have not updated any firmware, so I think it is just spending more time with the 7D2 than I have before. I wish there was a good way to baseline (measure) the AF performance of these, so I could know when something was acting up. Yesterday I was using the 7D2 on a very hot day at the Bosque del Apache NWR, after the camera and 600mm lens sat in the hot car all day. The sluggishness on focus acquisition in all AF modes (Canon “cases”) was very apparent. Roger Clark has a very interesting article on the micro-focus adjust settings and temperature here ( http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/microadjustment/ ). I must admit I am very lazy when it comes to microfocus adjust though and I am not sure how that would affect the speed of acquisition, only the quality of the focus… I have noticed heat shimmer, and cold shimmer, due to atmospheric turbulence, affecting the focusing. The worst I saw was photographing long distances for wild horses in the heat, and wolves in Lamar Valley on a cold winter day. Perhaps temperature is affecting things?
Good luck resolving things (no pun intended) and I look forward to learning what the culprit is.
As always I find everything you post of interest, and like Susan, I’m hoping you find some landscapes photogenic enough to be worthy of your attention–that series that
you posted under ” Going AWOL” was just dee-lishus !
Again, oh WOW! Yet another beautiful shot!
But oh so sorry you’re dealing with intermittent camera issues. They’re reasonably close to impossible to track! Oh I well remember intermittent electrical issues back in my Triumph Spitfire days. The chances of any well-meaning electron of traveling from point A to point B in a predictable and/or timely manner was roughly nil! I’m sure that’s why I struggle with the concept of electricity to this day! LOL!
Beautiful shot Ron! Hope your focus issues get resolved,but I’m glad you seeing interesting birds.
Charlotte
I’m glad to know that the SEOs are doing well in Montana also this year. I think what I like best about this shot is that it shows how very long the wings are in comparison to the body size. Looking forward to seeing whatever birds you’ve encountered, and I’m also hoping you post photos of the wilderness scenery.
Beautiful shot, Ron. 🙂 Hopefully you’ll be able to figure out which piece of equipment is malfunctioning and it’s an easy fix – at least you are able to use the camera and lens even if frustrating!