The Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forum - Fine Art Landscape Photography

Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast

Posted By: retief

Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/28/10 05:44 AM

Third in the sequence, I liked the wing position, but I don't think the vole ( I think it is a vole ) was enjoying the ride. Pretty good sized meal for a 9 inch bird. Owl is heading back to the burrow, where the 5 owletts had not yet fledged. Never saw them feeding, darn it.

More can be here in the Owl Gallery .

I've been lurking around this place for a long time, so long I can't even remember if I have ever posted, so I figured it was time, be kind please ..... I'm fragile

Posted By: Sunstruck

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/28/10 08:14 PM

Lovely shot! I went to your gallery. I absolutely love the photo titled Mom on Guard.

Posted By: StarrLight

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/28/10 08:49 PM

Nice shot - I also liked "Mom on Guard" and the one where Mom is coming in for a landing with feet outstretched.

Diana

Posted By: James Morrissey

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/29/10 04:30 AM

Hi Bill,

These are pretty amazing. Are you using bait, or are these all natural?

James

Posted By: retief

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/29/10 05:45 AM

Quote:

Lovely shot! I went to your gallery. I absolutely love the photo titled Mom on Guard.

Thank you very much Penny. I have to confess, however, that this is not my shot, this one is my wife's, Nancy, you can bet I'll pass this on to her. I should also say that I am SO jealous of this picture myself, that "look" is just way too cool. You can tell this is an adult, to be honest I'm not sure if male or female, by the bars and streaks on the chest. The young do not have these.

And an even bigger Thank You for taking the time to go and look.

Posted By: retief

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/29/10 05:48 AM

Quote:

Nice shot - I also liked "Mom on Guard" and the one where Mom is coming in for a landing with feet outstretched.

Diana

Thanks, Diana, as I confessed to Penny, Mom on Guard is Nancy's, my wife of 39 years as of the 19th of June this year.

The other one really IS mine! This is actually one of the young flying in, the adult is the one asleep on the ground. As noted above, the young do not yet have the streaks on the chest.

Thanks very much for the look, I very much appreciate it.

Posted By: retief

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/29/10 05:54 AM

Quote:

Hi Bill,

These are pretty amazing. Are you using bait, or are these all natural?

James

Thanks a lot. These are all natural. This whole issue of baiting in the wild is a tough one. I have never done it, and doubt I will but I could be convinced otherwise perhaps. I am concerned about animals in popular spots becoming too dependent on humans to feed them. We just happen to be incredibly blessed with this spot about 3 hours from home. Most of the shots I have from these locations have the birds within 40-100 feet of us. The sequence with the vole started about, I'm guessing, 120 feet or so away and I got absolutley lucky to get in focus quickly enough. At this spot, and many others, I shoot almost exclusively from my car, these are farming areas and the birds are somewhat habituated to vehicles being around. But at the first sign of agitation, I first get very still and if they are still agitated, it is time to move on.

I hope that doesn't sound too preachy, but I think it incumbent on us to do what we can to be sure that others have the same opportunity.

Off the soapbox now, thanks a bunch for looking as well as the site in general. Much appreciated.

Oh, yeah, to be fully up front I have to admit that on occasion I might utter an "Owl, look over here, darn you!!!"

Posted By: Mira

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 06/29/10 01:01 PM

Your photos are awesome!!!

Posted By: rpcrowe

Re: Burrowing Owl - bringing home breakfast - 07/05/10 04:53 PM

Absolutely great shot.

A local homeowner put up an owl box which was taken over by a pair of bran owls to hatch and raise their owlets.

What made it unuual was that the owner placed a video camera inside the box and streamed live video on the Internet. Our local news programs kept track of the owl family and there were hundreds of thousands of hits on the video stream.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/san-marcos/article_d0673856-9541-51a2-8c36-cf049e6d9332.html

I remember that we were all concerned the first time that "Molly the Owl" left her owlets for an extended period. Many of us thought that something had happened to Molly. Luckily, that was just a rite of passage for an owl family...