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![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/barn-owl-3900-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4,\u00a0natural light, not baited set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n At Farmington Bay WMA there are numerous signs posted directing hunters to where they can hunt and where they cannot and those signs are favorite resting spots for hunting raptors.\u00a0 When I come across an owl on one of these signs I’ll typically drive on by unless there’s a possibility for\u00a0take-off shots\u00a0but I made an exception for this one despite the less than ideal light.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc,\u00a0natural light, not baited set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Another favorite perch is this kestrel nesting box at the top of a hill.\u00a0 From this elevated vantage point the birds can hunt visually over a large area without expending the energy required for flight – a significant advantage in the depths of a long, cold winter when calories are at a premium.\u00a0 This owl looks like it might be wary of me and about to fly, but it isn’t.\u00a0 It was calmly scanning the wetlands below and in front of it\u00a0for voles and would very occasionally look back to check me out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This perch is perhaps the epitome of\u00a0“ugly and unnatural” but this family of Barn Owls loved it.\u00a0 It’s a twisted and much used (by the birds)\u00a0pile of metal inside an old and abandoned tractor-trailer alongside a hay barn on Antelope\u00a0Island.\u00a0 There are\u00a0actually\u00a0five owls within the frame here, two of them behind the\u00a0foreground bird on the right.<\/p>\n To my eye this image almost looks flashed but (as always) it isn’t.\u00a0 I never use flash on birds, particularly owls.\u00a0 The bright catch lights in the eyes are due to the extreme darkness inside the trailer in contrast to the bright light behind me.<\/p>\n I’ll miss the Barn Owls but I hope the fact that they’re apparently no longer\u00a0flying and hunting\u00a0in daylight means those who survived the winter are having an easier time of it now.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s been a while since I’ve seen any Barn Owls out and about and I’m thinking they won’t be flying again during daytime\u00a0until at least next winter so I decided\u00a0 to bid them\u00a0adieu for the present with one last post\u00a0for the season. I generally prefer my\u00a0avian subjects\u00a0on natural perches but Ingrid Tayler’s affection for\u00a0birds\u00a0on man-made perches in the urban landscape is beginning to instill in me a little more flexibility.\u00a0 Perhaps it isn’t too late for some new tricks from this old dog… 1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4,\u00a0natural light, not baited set up or called in At Farmington Bay WMA there are numerous signs posted directing hunters to where they can hunt and where they cannot and those signs are favorite resting spots for hunting raptors.\u00a0 When I come across an owl on one of these signs I’ll typically drive on by unless there’s a possibility for\u00a0take-off shots\u00a0but I made an exception for this one despite the less than ideal light. \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc,\u00a0natural light, not baited set up or called in Another favorite perch is this kestrel nesting box at the top of a hill.\u00a0 From this elevated vantage point the birds can hunt visually over a large area without expending the energy required for flight – a significant advantage in the depths of a long, cold winter when calories are at a premium.\u00a0 This owl looks like it might be wary of me and about to fly, but it isn’t.\u00a0 It was calmly…<\/p>\n![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/barn-owl-3011-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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