African Barred Owlet

Gallery: AvianPosted December 6, 2012365 views21 comments

One of the smallest owl species in South Africa. I've been fortunate to see these guys up close on both of my trips there, both times in the Elephant Plains Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/500th
f/4
Hand-held from a vehicle

Max

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on December 6, 2012 at 4:55 PM

Great portrait. Details are top notch. Nicely captured.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 6, 2012 at 5:24 PM

Nice portrait of this fellow - how small are they?
Nice detail and interesting perch. BG could use a round of NR..
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on December 6, 2012 at 5:50 PM

Great shot! The detail and image quality are excellent and the bird is very cool looking.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on December 6, 2012 at 6:49 PM

Sandy, they're slightly larger than pygmy owls. The pearl spotted owlet is another African species that looks similar to these, but is slightly closer to our pygmies in size and appearance.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on December 6, 2012 at 8:59 PM

Stunning Owl and great image

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Turner on December 6, 2012 at 10:41 PM

Well done and sharp as a tack for hand held

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on December 6, 2012 at 11:21 PM

Max,
I moved from photo to photo and did not see the small image of the own in the index. When his big face came up on my monitor, I was looking for someone to introduce us. I love the shot, particularly like the way you have handled the white feathers and definitely have a bad case of "owl envy".

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on December 7, 2012 at 3:51 AM

Sweet portrait of this little beauty

Great pose with excellent details, super nice perch too.

Sweet One Max!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on December 7, 2012 at 11:01 AM

Wonderful portrait of this little owl. The soft lighting and the textures really work well here.

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on December 7, 2012 at 11:25 AM

Simply stunning in its simplicity. Exposure, sharpness, background, everything spot on.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 7, 2012 at 2:46 PM

Excellent shot with some very interesting feather patterns on this owl. The light, perch and background all come together on this, well done, a pleasure to view.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Vanessa Caccamise on December 8, 2012 at 7:29 AM

Excellent detail.. lovely shot!

Registered on February 7, 2012, 17 Posts, 57 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on December 9, 2012 at 4:31 PM

This is a beauty Max.
May

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

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on December 10, 2012 at 6:46 AM

Beautiful detail Max

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on December 10, 2012 at 9:02 AM

Wonder subject, perch and background. The detail is outstanding as well. Stunning portrait.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on December 10, 2012 at 9:46 AM

Thanks everyone. It's a treat seeing some of these small "exotic" species on my trips. I've had much better luck with small owls overseas than at home, so it's fun to share these sightings while I stare longingly at someone else's northern hawk, burrowing, saw-whet or northern pygmy owl photos.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 12, 2012 at 6:08 PM

Congrats on the WP- I love this little guy!
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on December 12, 2012 at 11:57 PM

Outstanding image Max-congrats on the WP!

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on December 13, 2012 at 1:18 AM

best portrait I've ever seen of one
and I don't even have one shot of them

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on December 13, 2012 at 8:59 AM

Congratulations on the Weekly Pick! A perfect image.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on December 13, 2012 at 12:38 PM

Cheers, everyone. As I mentioned in the forum, the WP was a surprise. This was a(nother) great week for Avian images on this site.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments