great grey owls..day 2

Gallery: AvianPosted May 20, 2010187 views18 comments

Yesterday I showed up and the female wasn't on the nest and the young were pretty huckered down, barely visible from my steep angle. After about 15 minutes, mom came and landed on a nearby branch, looked at me for about two minutes and then casually flew off to a tree about 30 or 40 yards away - still barely in view. I started wondering if it was time to leave these birds alone. I looked at my watch and decided to wait twenty minutes to see what would happen...In twentyone minutes, she flew to the closest branch to the young(5-10 yards away)and they all pretty much ignored me for the next four hours. She mostly slept The young gave me a couple minutes of cute poses, but mostly were out of site. I haven't seen the male yet.
It might sound boring to spend four hours basically watching birds just "be", but I'm hooked.
Finding a good angle was very difficult and the light was tough again -dark, rainy clouds. Slow shutter speeds, high ISO's and too many slightly soft images.

I'm happy with the birds surroundings in this shot...the setting seems so atypical of great greys.

Canon 40D, 1-400mm, 1/85 @ 7.1, ISO500, tripod/cable release

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 20, 2010 at 11:56 AM

A beautiful setting with the mossy lichens here Dan, what a great opportunity to see and photograph these guys! The oof branch on the left is a little distracting, if you have the pixels I might crop in a bit closer to minimize it.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on May 20, 2010 at 12:53 PM

I'm happy with the birds surroundings in this shot...the setting seems so atypical of great greys.

Why is this habitat atypical?

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

Comment posted by dan elster on May 20, 2010 at 12:58 PM

Hey Richard,

..Atypical in terms of the photographs I'm used to seeing of GG's. Flight photos, in the snow, or on fencepost. This habitat: dark, dense forest with mossy tree limbs reminds me much more of my encounters with spotted and barred owls. I suppose this is would be fairly typical habitat for nesting great greys...that being said, this is the first great grey nest I've ever seen.

Registered on September 23, 2005, 299 Posts, 2443 Comments

Comment posted by Kirk Greene on May 20, 2010 at 1:08 PM

Having never seen a great grey I would love to spend 4 hours observing their behavior around the nest. I had a great opportunity a few years ago to photograph great horned owls nesting in a dead tree at eye level. I would go once a week for 7 weeks for 2-3 hours in the evening to watch them. It was a great experience and almost sad when they left the nest. Thanks for sharing and enjoy while you can.

Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on May 20, 2010 at 1:24 PM

Dan,
beautiful setting for this guy. Nicely done.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on May 20, 2010 at 2:29 PM

Love the subject and setting. Great capture!

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on May 20, 2010 at 3:16 PM

I Dan,

I think you are talking to folks that get it. Many of us can sit for hours just watching stuff "be". It's what we do.

Take full advantage of the opportunity, go back and back and back again. Wish I could be there seeing it too.

Photo looks great, I agree that a tad off the left might be good.

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on May 20, 2010 at 3:19 PM

Photography gives us all a great excuse just to sit around in the woods and watch the workings of nature.

Love the overall setting, but I have to admit that the bright, out of focus branch pulls my attention away from the subject.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by dan elster on May 20, 2010 at 6:00 PM

"I think you are talking to folks that get it'....you are right Peter, most of the people on this forum love all the same things I do!...I need to remember who I'm talking to when here.

Registered on September 23, 2005, 299 Posts, 2443 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on May 20, 2010 at 6:13 PM

Dan:
The setting is as beautiful as the bird. Congrats on a terrific capture.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on May 20, 2010 at 6:39 PM

Dan,

I get it, I love to "be" there watching, enjoying, learning and savoring my time out with the birds. Does not sound boring to me at all.

I like the setting you have here, the great details and the owl's pose. When I think of Great Grey's, this is the type of habitat I would expect to see this species in. I think you handled the exposure very well despite the conditions you described.

I'd be hooked too :-)

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

Comment posted by Dan Moore on May 20, 2010 at 9:05 PM

Perfect perch and the tree works as a great anchor.

Congrats!

Dan

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

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on May 21, 2010 at 12:09 AM

This looks exactly like the sort of habitat I have seen GGOs in here in Alberta, mature undisturbed coniferous forest. Well done .

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on May 21, 2010 at 8:39 AM

Sweet shot Dan. I really like the environment. Just that pesky OOF branch in the LLC. If you have CS5, a perfect use for Content Aware Fill. I'm guessing with very little work, that branch could be handled.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on May 21, 2010 at 8:59 AM

Sounds lik a great way to spend four hours to me. Love the shot.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Douglas Graham on May 21, 2010 at 11:59 AM

Love the setting here and boring, no not at all if I had money it would be how Id spend most of my time.

Registered on May 14, 2009, 123 Posts, 522 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on May 21, 2010 at 9:21 PM

Love it. This is so cool how the owl just blends right in. I love the hanging moss

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on May 24, 2010 at 12:47 PM

..Atypical in terms of the photographs I'm used to seeing of GG's. Flight photos, in the snow, or on fencepost. This habitat: dark, dense forest with mossy tree limbs reminds me much more of my encounters with spotted and barred owls. I suppose this is would be fairly typical habitat for nesting great greys....

Yes - this is typical nesting habitat. Check out a good reference book like Art Wolfe's wonderful Owls their Liufe and Behavior, with text by Julio de LaTorre.

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