Burrowing Owl

Gallery: AvianPosted August 28, 2011205 views13 comments

Nikon D300s
600mm on window mount in car
F/8
1/2500
ISO 400
Manual Exp
Manual White Balance...Sunny
Metering Spot
Distance 25.1 meters
Cloned out a couple of wild branches and leaves.
Cropped about 30%.
Photo taken July 16th

It's been a very long time. As I stated in my last post 2 or 3 months ago I wouldn't be able to get around to posting or commenting much because my wife is battling breast cancer. She's doing very well and that has freed me up to get out 4 or 5 times over the last couple of months but I had not been able to find time to process any of my photos until a couple of days ago.
I should have more time to comment and post in the future as things are getting much better for my wife. So I just wanted to applogize once again for my lengthy absence.

For some unknown reason when this owl took to flight after a lengthy wait for him to do so, he came right at me. This is very unusual for this kind of owl as I've noted that most of the time they tend to go away from me.
Guess I just got lucky this time. I have several more but I find the wing position to be my favorite in this series. Hope you like it and it's good to be back. Please see larger version.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on August 28, 2011 at 4:29 PM

David, It is good to hear you wife is doing well and good to see you posting again. Leave it to you to get a Burrowing Owl in flight. I like the pose with the owl looking at you. I also like the background which shows the environment. Hope to shoot with you again soon.

Skip (Harry) Harris

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 28, 2011 at 4:31 PM

Welcome back!
I have NO flight shots of these guys for the reasons you mention (it has nothing to do, of course, with my lack of expertise! lol!)
Amazing perspective - the wings look HUGE in relation to this little, tiny bird.
Sure glad your wife is doing well.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on August 28, 2011 at 5:29 PM

Great news about your wife David. Awesome she is doing well. Really great to get this species in flight. Love the habitat and perspective. I might bring down the brightest areas of this image just a bit. Cool shot.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on August 28, 2011 at 5:29 PM

Harry and Sandy,
Thanks for the comments regarding my wife. She's doing so much better than she was a couple of months ago. Sandy, yes...little bird, huge wing spread for sure. You had me laughing at your "lack of expertise" comment. Shots like this are strickly due to LUCK. Zero expertise involved with getting this. BTW, you are one of the most experienced photographers on this site. Hope you are doing well Sandy.
Harry...I'd love to shoot with you again real soon. Don't know when I can get out again but I'll e-mail you next time I have a few hours. Thanks for the comments my friend. Hope you too are well.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on August 28, 2011 at 7:04 PM

Luck or expertise it's a nice shot David. Glad to here your wife is getting better!

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on August 28, 2011 at 7:28 PM

Very interesting view of a Burrowing Owl. Great to capture a an activity that I have never seen in Burrowing Owl. Never seen them fly.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on August 28, 2011 at 9:38 PM

David, I am so happy to hear that your wife is doing well. I think this is the first photo of a burrowing owl in flight that I have ever seen and its a doozy. Perfect focal point! Those wings must beat pretty fast to get that wing tip blur at 1/2500th. Great job!

Peter

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 28, 2011 at 11:43 PM

Great angle, David and a very cool image. The larger image is nice and crisp. I love those eyes.

Well done, and I'm glad to hear your wife is doing well.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on August 29, 2011 at 12:28 AM

Wow, amazing. There is a DQ commercial running here in Canada, where they say, we don't just _______, we ________, with an emphasis on hyperbole. Well this photo reminded me of the commercial, you don't just photograph a hard to find, cool looking Burrowing owl, you photograph it "in flight"!!! (Also, very glad to hear your wife is making progress with her cancer, great news. Hope better days are ahead for your family).

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 29, 2011 at 3:26 AM

I have the same problem with these Owls flying away from me David. Think I have maybe 2 semi-decent flight shots of ten in my collection after spending a lot of time with them. The outstretched wings are cool. Hope you wife continues to improve and glad to hear she is doing better!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on August 29, 2011 at 8:03 PM

Welcome back, David. Cancer is almost an epidemic now. I'm glad to hear that your wife is doing very well now. I'm sure that your dedication to helping here has been of great value to her. Such support is so important.
So, glad you are able to return at this point and post such a startling shot! This bird is flying right at me, complete with piercing eyes and wings in motion! Very fine and unusual action shot.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on August 29, 2011 at 9:02 PM

I really like the head-on POV and direct eye contact David.
Lovely setting with the tree blossoms & lightly clouded BG too.
Great details with the wing blur a plus here IMO.
Good to hear your wife is doing better, I wish you both well

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on August 30, 2011 at 7:31 PM

Congrats getting this little one in flight, David. Very nice detail in the larger post. I like the way you have composed this with the blossoming tree. It seems just a tad bit bright on my monitor.

Very nice to hear your wife is doing well.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments