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OK, here's a photo documentary, sort of a how-to on getting the shot you want. It goes something like this:
After you locate an active nest and determine that it's about 75' up, you find a tree close by to use as your vantage point.
Then, you climb to a point higher than the nest.
You get to 80' and stop to set up and change cameras.
Locate the nest and get into position to spend the next three hours observing, and maybe even take a few photos.
And this is your reward.
It was a rainy Sunday morning in Whatcom Falls Park and well worth the effort.
This female Barred Owl kept three owlets warm and dry. The crown of the Doug fir that we climbed kept us relatively dry, so it was good all around. At first, the male took a few runs at my friend's head but we were unscathed. Wear a helmet if you try this approach.
I saw a nature show where photographers were installing a camera to observe the nest of a Harpy eagle, one of the world's largest. Their method was similar to yours, only they were much higher above the ground. They had to wear helmets with face shields and kevlar vests to protect themselves from the eagle's attacks. The eagle would only attack when a camera man turned his back. Two camera men went up, one to install the camera and one to keep an eye on the eagle.
How about a Barred Owl afternoon, in Whatcom Falls Park.
I'd personally like to thank all the robins, crows, Steller's Jays, chickadees, etc. They kept him on the move and I followed. Without them I might have had just a walk in the park.
Tuesday (5/20/14) afternoon my son and I quite easily located the Yost Park barred owls "with a little help from my friends" the robins and crows. While there was plenty of daylight and the owls were out in the open, shooting was difficult as they were backlit quite badly. I was shooting uphill of the owls on a steep hillside.
In addition to the usual perched posing shots, I also managed to take some flight shots. You can see both owls in these photos with the second owl perched on a branch in the lower right corner.
One or both owls kept flying into the leafed out tree trunk. I was hoping to find a nesting burrow, but I think they were just hunting for tree dwelling rodents. I'll keep checking the tree for any nesting activity.
Not a very good flight shot, but closer than the first set.
They were not. They were farther west on the north side of the ravine. I have heard their hoots coming from this area in the past, but have seldom seen them there compared to other locations in the park. I was surprised to see them together out in the open during the daylight. That could be an indication a nest is nearby, but I would think the female would be in the nest sitting on eggs instead of being out in the open.
Here are two shots to show how they were perched out in the open (relatively speaking) during the day.
And here are two poser shots.
I believe this is the male as it looks smaller.
And I believe this is the larger, female. This is the one which kept flying up to the leafy trunk of the tree. Looking for a nest hole?
No such luck. I have not seen any indicates the female is sitting on a nest. Tuesday night (5/26) my son and I heard both owls hooting, but we only found this one to photograph just past sunset.
I've located this pair of Barred Owls in Whatcom Falls Park and see them on a regular basis, but I can't seem to locate the nest. Oh well.... They both ended up on the creek yesterday, did a little beak rubbing, and then headed for their favorite fishing holes.
I was with Terry at the time. He could not step back far enough on the path to shoot the tiny northern saw-whet owls with the 7D + 5.6/400L telephoto lens he was carrying. He had to borrow his wife's point & shoot to get any shots. I was carrying my 5DIII + 100-400L telephoto zoom and could barely get shots of the owls with the short (100mm) end of the lens.
Bill said it all, Joe This was the best I could do....taken Feb 1, 2013 using my 40D and 400mm 5.6L....would have been nice to have my 70-200 with me
On the same day we did get some shots of the usual short-eared owls, snowy owls, and one marginal shot of a long-eared owl through a chainlink fence bordering the golf course at Boundary Bay. I call this one of my more 'ethereal' shots (Bill loves these )
Monday (6/9) evening my son and were I back owl hunting in Yost Park. I saw what initially looked like a juvie owl trying to fledge. It kept flapping its wings but did not fly. Closer examination of my shots on site revealed that one of the owl's talons may have been stuck in a broken branch which in-turn was tangled up in the tree.
If you look closely at the photos, you will see that although the owl changes positions in relation to the tree, it never changes positions relative to the broken branch. The broken branch always moves with the owl. It was pretty dark when these photos were taken. I was shooting at ISO 25600 and 51200. In Canon's line, only the 5DIII and 1Dx could have taken the photos.
The following afternoon we returned to the park to look for the owl, which was not in the tree where I photographed it. I ran into one of the regular park owl hunters. With help from the crows and robins, he found the male perched in an evergreen. It appeared to be OK.
Although we heard robins constantly chirping their distress calls, we never found the female. I'll feel much better once I see her sans dangling branch. Still no sign of a burrow or owlets.
