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Well, I'm glad to see that owls can still be found. I was hiking in Tryon Creek and much to my surprise I found two owls. I have not been looking since the owlets fledged and thought they were well dispersed. I returned today with my camera and was able to locate one. They are well dispersed, but l let the robins be my guides. Those robins were pretty aggressive. I even heard the thump on the owls head. It was hard for me to tell if one of them was a juvenile or not since it seemed to have it's adult plumage but it did seem a little extra fluffy.
I located my consistent pair of Barred Owls in Whatcom Falls Park last evening. It was dark in the park and I had to wade a little but it was worth the effort....and refreshing, too!
Thanks Chad. The first two were and I added the third to show their #1 prey species on the creek. Every owl in the park is quite adept at catching crayfish. The owl in the second shot had just nabbed one but turned and flew into a nearby tree to dine.
Another from my Yellowstone trip. This great horned owl nest has been active most years since I first saw it in 2007 or so. Last year they took a break, so it was nice to see owlets in it again this spring. This was the first time I've ever had a chance to get all of the owlets out in the open together, so I was willing to live with the horrible backlighting that's typical with afternoon shots at this location.
This was the first time I've ever had a chance to get all of the owlets out in the open together, so I was willing to live with the horrible backlighting that's typical with afternoon shots at this location.
Better late than never with a reply... You are the master at framing your shots, Fiz! Nicely done. This is an honest shot and the lighting is not bad at all. I was taking white sky shots during all of the spring with owls. My feelings about shooting with the backlighting are the same but, again this is an honest shot with excellent control.
I took an 18-mile bike ride today on Bellingham's Interurban Trail, which follows the old railroad grade between B'ham and Mt. Vernon. It was a grind but around 9:30 this morning, I found my reward for the effort....a handsome Barred Owl.
The owl was down in the creek bottom, where an old trestle used to be. Treacherous biking but great habitat for owls.
*The trail dictated that I take only my P&S but this owl allowed me to walk right up to it.
One week later, same time of day, same spot, same Barred Owl. Walked down to the backwater pond and there he was. Pretty dark down in the creek bottom where he perches but he allowed me to walk right up to him....so no cropping necessary.
I've just returned from my South Africa tour, where we had some good owl luck. I thought you guys might like to see a couple of the species we found. In total, we saw six different owl species, and got photos of most of them, including a couple I had never photographed before.
I woke up before the alarm one morning--not on purpose--and soon after heard some hooting outside my bungalow. I ran outside and found a pair of courting Wood owls in the nearby trees. I had to sit on the ground and use a chair as the base for my long lens (my tripod head, monopod and beanbags had been left in the vehicle), but was able to snap a couple quick shots of this species. It was my first time seeing it, and I found it very reminiscent of our local barred owls.
Among the other species we saw were all of South Africa's smallest owls: the African scops owl, the White-faced scops owl, the Pearl-spotted owlet and the Barred owlet. The last two look very similar to our pygmy owls. This is the Barred owlet.
Max, I did a double take looking at your African barred owlet. I call the Barred owl babies here in the Portland area Barred owlets, two completely different species. I glanced at the picture and for split second and thought you had posted a Northern Pygmy owl, very Similar looking face compared to an African barred owlet. I'm thinking that the African Barred owlet is a little bigger than the Northern Pygmy owl, no?
