The local Little Owl I photographed earlier this year has been missing from it’s favourite perch on a dead tree stump for months. I have heard Little Owls in that area and simply put it down to the breeding season.
Last night we passed the tree stump on our way into the village and there was a Little Owl back on top.
This evening I decided to go and have a session with it, I arrived at the stump and the Owl was already sitting there, so turned to plan b. I drove away and prepared the car as a hide and then parked up close to the tree. I find that Little Owls can be approached in this way as long as they don’t see you. I had a camouflage net over the passenger window, a Photography Bean Bag over the top of the open window aperture with the camera resting on top. I managed to get some shots before it flew to various other trees as it was clearly hunting for it’s dinner. (the story continues below the photos)
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📷 Nikon D850, AF-S 500mm f/4 @ 1/160sec, f/8, ISO100
📷 Nikon D850, AF-S 500mm f/4 @ 1/160sec, f/8, ISO100
For a Little Owl, this is quite large and now after looking at previous photos taken earlier this year, this is a different bird. Due to the size, I think this is a female as they are usually larger than males.
For comparison, here is a shot I took earlier this year. I will be spending a lot of time over the coming weeks photographing this and maybe the other one.
📷 Nikon D850, AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR @ 400mm, 1/1250sec, f/8, ISO400