Barred Owl

Gallery: AvianPosted February 25, 2010137 views7 comments

One of many Barred Owls seen at Presqu'ile Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. Last known count of these Owls was 15. You can usually get very close to these Owls.

Nikon D300
Nikon 70-200mm VR f/2.8

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -2/3 EV
Flash: No Flash

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on February 25, 2010 at 6:42 AM

I had a teacher that used to look at me like that.
A veryu impressive bird!

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Bob McQuade on February 25, 2010 at 9:12 AM

Very nice shot, would love to see more light in the eyes, though.

Registered on October 8, 2009, 214 Posts, 432 Comments

Comment posted by Rodrigo Sandoval on February 25, 2010 at 12:28 PM

Great moment, a very rare species of owl is a jewel.
I like the general light in the picture, although the background is a bit distracting, especially since both the owl and the branches have a similar color. Well, it's not easy to change shooting position to allow a better background, even with F8 that you used. Great shot anyway.

Registered on April 4, 2009, 13 Posts, 254 Comments

Comment posted by Hal Trachtenberg on February 25, 2010 at 5:08 PM

More light in the eye? You can see the dilated pupils of this Owl. Not a very common occurrence with Barred Owl photos. The only way to get more light in the eyes is to flash it, which most know you're not supposed to do to Owls.

Rodrigo. This is one of our more common owls. It's the most widely seen Owl in these areas. The location where this Owl was shot is home to about 15 of these birds. They nest here. For you however, it might seem rare because I don't think you see this species where you live.

Registered on December 26, 2009, 31 Posts, 40 Comments

Comment posted by Lindy Martin on February 25, 2010 at 7:31 PM

When did you get this image? I was out last weekend (feb 20/21) and didn't see a single snowy owl or barred. Amherst is off my list due to the number of people bothering the owls right now. I would love to hit a location that is peaceful and has a few owls. Any info would be appreciated. You can email me off list too if that is more convenient. Thanks

Registered on March 10, 2009, 60 Posts, 169 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 26, 2010 at 2:54 PM

Nice work at only 200mm. Yes, these owls can be easy to approach if you are lucky enough to find one.

I applaud your restraint in using flash on owls, although I'm not sure it is necessary with one tiny burst of fill in a daylight situation such as this. I agree with others that more light in the recessed eye sockets would improve this.

But I'm quite curious about the eyes as shown here. Its been many years since I lived with these birds in New Jersey, but I can't recall ever seeing an iris in the eyes of a Barred Owl, and all the reference photos I can find in my field guides show the eye as completely black. Have you done a lot of work on this part fo the image to bring the eyes out? Do you have more shots of this bird with a better view of the eyes?

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on February 27, 2010 at 9:20 AM

Hal,

I've been able to get close to this species in FL, they generally don't want to fly much during the day.

I too am curious about the eyes on the owl since I've only ever seen them with very dark eyes, I looked through my images of this species and in those that had the best light on the face I could just barely make out a brownish colored iris, not the color this is presented here.

While the angle is a bit steep I do like the way the owl is looking down and the blue sky in the background.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments