Sunday, December 30, 2007

Another Barred Owl Encounter



As I was driving along PA 915 between two stretches of State Forestry road a large bird swooped across the roadway landing on an upright snag. Fortunately the berm was wide enough that I had room to saftely pull the car off the roadway.

The owl watched me intently while I clicked the shutter rapidly. I only captured two images. By the third shot all I caught was tail feathers of a rapidly departing bird.

Encountering these birds of the night is extremely rare. I feel that I have been very fortunate to have had two separate encounters in the last two months with both resulting in successful photographs.

11 comments:

  1. Magnificent shot of the barred owl. Nice one of the cardinal also in the previous post. I guess I have to get up off the couch if I want to capture similar shots.....

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  2. Oh he is quite beautiful. Awesome shot.. I have never seen a real owl!! How lucky you are.. :) :)

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  3. Wow Salty....he is beautiful!
    I really want to see one of these guys :)

    Happy New Year!!

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  4. Fantastic shot Salty. I miss the owls I used to hear from our old place. In fact there were 2 that used to call to each other. It was a wonderful haunting sound in the night silence.
    Here's wishing you and your wife a wonderful and Happy New Year.
    Sue

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  5. Salty, It's such a wonderful owl photo. Wishing you a very Happy New Year, Healthy, Prosperous New Year and a year that fulfills all your wishes

    Ps, Which lenses do you normally use? I see L series from your photo : )

    Cheers
    DSM

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  6. Digitalshuttermania,

    I am currently shooting a Canon 30D with two lens'.

    Canon EF 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM
    Canon EF 100-400mm 1:4.5-5.6 L IS Ultrasonic.

    This owl as with most of my wildlife pics was shot with the 100-400.
    Salty

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  7. Nice shot! I don't think I've ever seen one either.

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  8. I don't feel too bad when I read posts like this as I get opportunities now and then and end up only getting the tail end of feathers taking off. Happened today. And it is windy and snowing. By the time I got ready the hawk was ready to go and went.

    About owls.

    I hear them in the summer, talking, softly, to each other and sometimes I am lucky enough to see them. One will be here on my property and one in the neighbor's yard somewhere. They hoot but in a mellow sort of way. You can't hardly hear them.

    I assume you probably know this or know a lot more about owls than I do as I only have one set of photos of a screech owl. LOL.

    Anyway, I wanted to tell you that owls have a way of perching in trees that some are not aware of and for that reason will miss them.

    They almost always, regardless of size, set with their backs right up against the tree trunk and they look out almost 360 degrees in front and on their sides but don't have to worry about their backs. I think it is pretty smart. So if you hear one and are trying to find him look for him sitting up against the tree trunk on a pretty good sized limb.

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  9. That is a very wonderful picture of the owl Salty. I love seeing them. We have one in the neighborhood I would love to see in the day and photograph. What Abe says is also interesting. I didn't know that about them sitting back to the trunk!

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Thanks again
Coy