![\"burrowing](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/burrowing-owl-3323-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA few days ago we found a family of Burrowing Owls in Box Elder County, Utah but it was late in the morning and the sun was high so I wasn’t happy with my images of them. So yesterday we got up in what seemed like the middle of the night (3:30 AM)\u00a0in order to arrive at the burrow at dawn. There are two adults and at least six young birds on location but since I’m shooting at the burrow from my vehicle it’s almost impossible to get a clear shot of birds there because of obstructing vegetation. Thankfully there are nearby rustic fence posts that the owls habitually\u00a0perch on.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This is about as clear a shot as I can get at the burrow but even here sharp eyes will notice that there’s out of focus vegetation in front of two of the birds so this shot is for documentation of behavior only.<\/p>\n Young Burrowing Owls are known for their personality,\u00a0appealingly goofy behavior and curiosity. Here three of the six youngsters are investigating a large beetle (possibly a stink bug) in front of the bird on the left as the insect crawls across the burrow mound. In almost this same inquisitive posture\u00a0all three birds\u00a0followed it down the side of the mound – it was\u00a0cute as the dickens to watch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I could get clear shots of the birds on the fence posts but since I didn’t approach the burrow area closely they were fairly small in the frame while they were perched. So I came up with a strategy – my primary goal would be takeoff and flight shots since birds with open wings take up a much larger portion of the frame and require\u00a0significantly less cropping. Flight shots in the low light of dawn\u00a0(these last two images were taken at 6:36 AM)\u00a0are a huge challenge because of the high shutter speeds required to get these incredibly fast little owls sharp so I was happy for the much improved high ISO capabilities of the Canon 7D Mark II. I was constantly fiddling with camera settings\u00a0in an attempt to keep my SS to a minimum of 1\/2500 to 1\/3200 sec. Sometimes I even exceeded that.<\/p>\n This\u00a0juvenile surprised me. I expected it to take off on yet another practice flight\u00a0in the general\u00a0direction it was facing\u00a0but in the next frame…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n it twisted on its perch as it took off and dove down toward the burrow. I like the rustic old post, the flight posture and the effect of the golden light on the image overall. And I really like the sharpness of the image under these conditions.<\/p>\n Today’s post is only a taste of\u00a0images to come from this session with the owls.\u00a0I have quite a few shots of them\u00a0that I like but I barely finished culling images before writing this post so there’s only one\u00a0photo here that I’m proud of.<\/p>\n I love it when lost sleep and\u00a0a long drive in the dark result in many images that I’m pleased with. All too often that just doesn’t happen.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: It’s\u00a0often a little awkward when I post images from a new owl burrow (or any nest) because I\u00a0typically get requests to reveal the location. It’s been my long-term policy to not reveal nest locations of any species (owls in particular)\u00a0because of the very real\u00a0dangers of some\u00a0folks not giving the birds the respect and\u00a0space they need, especially\u00a0at nesting time. I’ve documented one of the incidents that prompted that policy here<\/a> if you’re interested.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few days ago we found a family of Burrowing Owls in Box Elder County, Utah.<\/p>\n![\"MK2_2910\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/MK2_2910.jpg\")
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