Owls – Page 26 – Feathered Photography

Delivering Food For A Family Of Short-eared Owls

I try not to play favorites when it comes to bird subjects for my photography but Short-eared Owls would have to be near the top of any such list I might make. I’ve had some luck with them here in Utah but my favorite area to photograph them is in southwest Montana. This series is from the summer of 2010 in Beaverhead County. I spent several days watching and photographing a male owl hunt voles and then bring them in for his family (female and two chicks) at the nest at the base of a sagebrush. I thought it might be interesting for some to see a full series of shots (of those I kept) as the male approached the nest with a vole. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window, natural light Like me, this male was a creature of habit. I would watch him hunting far off in the distance and when he was successful he would always repeat the same pattern. He would bring the vole in to the vicinity of the nest and then land on one of two favorite perches for a short time before delivering the vole to his family. This small sagebrush was one of those favorite perches – the other was a metal post. Here, he is in the process of landing and you can see the dark vole in his left foot. He always carried the vole to the perch in his left foot (as I’ve documented here) and always transferred…

Great Horned Owl On Antelope Island Causeway This Morning

Just a quick post to report what was an unusual event this morning, at least for me. This is simply a documentary post, as the photos are of mediocre quality. In the hundreds of mornings I’ve spent on the island, I’ve never seen a Great Horned Owl along the causeway. This one was perched on some rocks on the south side of the first bridge. But it flew a quarter-mile west before I got any shots off so I followed it and just as I was about to click the shutter it took off again and headed back to the same area by the first bridge… where it perched on another rock. After a few minutes… it took off once again… and headed almost straight for me. This is the last shot I got before it disappeared below the rabbitbrush along the side of the bridge. Many thanks to the generous couple who approached my vehicle as I was photographing a coyote on the other side of the bridge (where the light was at a much better angle) and told us about this owl. Without their kind notification we’d have never even known the bird was there. I’ve seen and photographed GHO’s multiple times on the island, in a variety of settings, but had never before seen one on the causeway. And it was even relatively late in the morning (10:30 AM) which surprised me further, since it was so much out in the open. Ron

The Banded Burrowing Owls Of Antelope Island

Populations of Burrowing Owls in North America are in sharp decline. They are an Endangered Species in Canada where only about 800 pairs remain as there has been a 73% drop in their numbers in that country over the last 30 years. They are a species of “special protection” in Mexico and they are “listed” in 9 of the 18 western states in the U.S. that they still occupy. The reason for this disastrous decline is not well understood, but “human activity” is strongly suspected. In order to get a better handle on what is happening to them, multiple banding studies are in progress and that includes Antelope Island. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, shot from pickup window, not baited, set up or called in I first noticed banded juvenile Burrowing Owls on the island this past summer. Out of about a dozen juveniles in one area, several of them were banded but it was difficult to get a precise number because they’re hard to tell apart when some are in their burrows and the rest are flying all over the area. Most of the photos I have of banded owls were taken in early morning light but this one was taken later in the day (as you can tell by the position of the catch light and the angle of the shadows on the eyes), so the light was brighter and harsher. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, shot from pickup window, not baited, set up…

Banking Barn Owl

I have just a single image for this Friday night post. This morning was my first frosty cold morning at Farmington Bay this season and it reminded me of all the very cold mornings I spent with Barn Owls out there a few years ago – an opportunity I haven’t had with the species since. Hopefully, it’ll happen again some year soon. 1/2500, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in This owl was making a banking turn in front of me so I was able to get a good look at the topside of the bird from my ground level position – something that very few of my Barn Owl flight shots show. I was slightly further away from the bird than I prefer to be but I still thought the detail held up quite well. In order to anchor the bird in the frame and show habitat, I cropped this one to include as much of the frosty Phragmites at bottom as possible, Ron

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…

Short-eared Owl In Flight, With Prey

I’ve been frustrated by this species in flight in Utah for years, though I’ve had some luck with Montana birds. 1/3200. f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Finally, last summer, I found a mated pair on Antelope Island who were busy trying to keep track of and feed at least four juveniles spread out over several acres. Occasionally one of the parents would fly by relatively close as it returned with a vole for the youngsters. In larger versions of this image there’s a catch light in the eye of the vole but it’s impossible to see at this size. Ron

Short-eared Owl Displaying Ear Tufts

Short-eared Owls are always a primary photographic quarry for me whenever I visit the Centennial Valley in sw Montana but on this last trip I only found one. However, that lone bird made up for it by showing me something fairly unusual. 1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These owls have short ear tufts (“ears”) but they are only rarely seen because they are usually laying down on the top of the head. Here they can be seen, but just barely. 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc However, when the bird turned to face me for just a moment the tufts became visible. Typically they are only erected in a defensive pose and I don’t know if this owl deliberately displayed them to me because it thought I was too close or if a breeze from the back lifted them involuntarily. I suspect it was the latter because in the shots right after this one other feathers on the head look to be blown erect by the breeze. Either way I was glad to see the tufts. I have hundreds of images of this species and very few of them show the “ears”. Ron

Some More Burrowing Owls

I simply can’t resist photographing Burrowing Owls. 1/100, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These youngsters often have a balance problem when they try to perch on the relatively unstable sunflowers, which can be a good opportunity for the photographer to get some interesting poses. One of the problems here was that the sun was just coming up and the light was very low as you can see from my very slow shutter speed. Even though this bird fluttered on the perch for quite a while I ended up trashing most of those shots because they just weren’t sharp enough. But the other problem just about drove me batty for a while. For some reason my Canon 7D wouldn’t allow me to adjust my exposure (ev). How very frustrating to have this bird giving me such nice poses while I’m thinking the entire time that I’m over-exposing the shots and can’t do anything about it! It turned out that my exposure for these shots was just right (I’ve done no exposure adjustment in post-processing with this image) but it took me (us) a half hour to figure out what the problem was with my camera. Mia saved the day by downloading the 7D manual to her phone and in the end the problem turned out to be that I had inadvertently switched on the “lock” button on my camera. Sheesh! 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 100-400 @ 300mm I thought some of you might like to “meet” most of the Burrowing Owl family I’ve been photographing this summer. From left to right #3 and #5…

Juvenile Burrowing Owl In Flight

This morning was the first time we’ve been out photographing since our Montana trip. I’ll post more images from Big Sky Country soon but I thought I’d break it up a bit with a couple of photos from this morning. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc The juvenile Burrowing Owls were quite active at just the right time – when the sun was still low but high enough to give me enough light and shutter speed that I didn’t have to crank up my ISO too far. I haven’t had a lot of luck with Burrowing Owls in full flight so I was quite pleased with this shot even though I had to add a bit of canvas to the image for composition. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These youngsters are beginning to show some signs of maturing by the development of more color on the breast. As you can see, this is one of the young birds that has been banded.It’s very entertaining to watch these juveniles. In the morning before it gets too hot they often fly from perch to nearby perch and when they’re on the ground they seem to enjoy manipulating objects like twigs and leaves and nibbling on flowers. They interact with each other with the enthusiasm of youth. The problem for the photographer is that when they’re on the ground it’s virtually impossible to get a clear shot of them through all the vegetation. I really enjoy these little guys. Ron

Juvenile Burrowing Owl – Wing Exercises

I simply can’t resist posting a couple of more images of juvenile Burrowing Owls that were taken last week. 1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc It may look like this bird has lost its balance on the sage and is trying to regain it but I believe it was simply exercising its wings. It flapped and fluttered for quite a while – long enough for me to get several dozen images of the action (I saved 18 of them). 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I do wish there’d been a bit more light though. The sun ducked behind a cloud just as just as this youngster started flapping. Should’a heard Mia cussing that cloud! As per usual, I kept my cool and just went with the flow. 🙂 Actually, we’ve both been known to cuss clouds on occasion but I’m much better at it than she is. She just doesn’t have my enthusiasm. Or originality… Ron

Landing Juvenile Burrowing Owl

We had some more fun with the family of Burrowing Owls this morning. There are two adults and at least seven chicks. Some of the youngsters have been banded, which may be good for the owls but it isn’t particularly good for photography so I was happy to see that this one wasn’t wearing any jewelry. 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 One of the adult birds spent much of the morning perched on sagebrush to the left of this one and occasionally one of the youngsters would come in and land close by. I was pleasantly surprised by the eye contact in this image. Usually they’re looking down at this point in the landing process but I think a slight headwind gave this bird time enough to glance up at my pickup just to make sure we continued to be no threat. In the very next frame the owl was beginning to look down at its landing spot on the sage. I love the very early morning light on these owls but especially on the juveniles. The tradeoff is that ISO 640 is pushing it for my Canon 7D but I always like to have good shutter speed when an opportunity like this suddenly appears. I had taken off my tc but still barely fit the owl in the frame. The upper background is a distant sandbar and sloping shoreline of the Great Salt Lake. 1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4 I was able to get five sharp shots as this owl was coming in. My favorite of the sequence is the first image…

A Plea For Respect For The Burrowing Owl

If there’s a group of birds on the face of the earth that is almost universally loved it seems to me that it would have to be owls. Many folks are captivated by them for their large forward-facing eyes, quizzical expressions, eerie vocalizations and the sense of mystery provided by their generally nocturnal habits. Others appreciate their many unique adaptations, such as silent flight and their ability to turn their heads 270 degrees. There’s just something about owls… 1/640, f/9, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And for many of us Burrowing Owls are at the pinnacle of that adoration. Their comical antics, especially those of the juveniles, tug at our heartstrings and make us smile. And they’re more accessible to viewing than are most owls because they’re active during daylight and spend much of their time on the ground close to their burrows instead of being hidden high up in trees. The flip-side to all this is that Burrowing Owls are extremely vulnerable to unthinking human intrusion – especially while they’re nesting and caring for chicks or juveniles. 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In Utah the burrows of these owls are typically found among sagebrush, which they often use as perches during early morning. This allows the patient and ethical birder or photographer a good look at the birds without having to get too close in order to see through the vegetation usually found in the burrow area. It’s not unusual for Burrowing Owls to nest close to roads and when they do…

Some Recent Shots I Like, Despite Some Flaws

Like every other bird photographer many of the photos I take are not worth keeping. For the first few years I was shooting birds I estimated that I deleted 90% of my images. Now that I’ve become a little more discriminating that number is probably closer to 95%. Birds are incredibly difficult subjects – they’re fast, unpredictable, difficult to approach and generally uncooperative. When I’m culling images after a day in the field most shots fall under two main categories – keepers and garbage. But there’s often a few that are technically lacking for one reason or another but have some unusual or especially interesting feature that makes it difficult for me to trash them. So I don’t. Occasionally I go back through them just for the fun of it. I enjoy them and thought some of you might too so here’s a few from the past month or so. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This one’s from yesterday – a Lark Sparrow that posed and groomed for us for quite a while. Looking through the viewfinder I had no idea there was a second Lark Sparrow in the vicinity and didn’t even notice it flying through the frame until I got home and looked at it on my computer. Mia said that she’d noticed the second bird and that it chased the first bird away when it flew. Anyway, I thought the out-of-focus sparrow to the left was an interesting serendipity. I just wish the two twigs by the head weren’t there. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500 500 f/4, 1.4…

An Itchy, Fidgety Burrowing Owl On A Wiggly Perch

It all started with an itch. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Two days ago just as the sun was coming up over the Wasatch we found this adult Burrowing Owl perched on a dried sunflower. The lower background is the Great Salt Lake. The bird was sunning itself and pretty static and I was hoping for some kind of action. 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Then it tried to scratch its face while perched on this spindly and unstable perch and that’s when the action began. (Full disclosure – this shot is a little out-of-order but it shows the scratching behavior better than any I got at the very beginning – it tried to scratch the same spot on its face several times during this sequence). 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Every time the owl tried to scratch its face the sunflower stem would move around and throw the bird off-balance so the wings would go out and I got some interesting poses in nice light. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I was able to get many images of the balancing act as it progressed but the owl was sidelit so in quite a few of them one or both of the wings and one side of the face were in shadow. These are the images with the best pose and light combinations that I was able to get. The secondary wing feathers seem to be still growing in from a recent molt. …

Burrowing Owl Against A Clean Background

A few days ago we found this adult Burrowing Owl in early morning light and perched high on some rabbitbrush with the Great Salt Lake as background. After I got the pickup stopped it only gave me a second or two of posing before it flew off. 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc Most of my images of this species show the bird on the ground with a cluttered setting so I like the cleanness of this image. I also enjoy the fact that with the sun so low both eyes are well-lit even at the top of the corneas where there’s usually some shadow from the brows. If I’d had more time I’d have adjusted my settings to get more depth of field for the tail but sometimes, just occasionally :-), birds don’t cooperate with my best intentions… Ron

Category: Owls