short eared owl Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Craig Rogers Photography

I decided to have another look through some of my rejected photos of the Short Eared Owls I’ve recently been getting up early for. None of them will make my Flickr Album but even though this shot is both a bit boring (just a side on-shot) and quality isn’t great, I love the sunrise colours of the whole scene so thought I’d share.

{Click image for a higher resolution}

In Flight - D810, AF-S 500mm f/4 with TC-14III @ 700mm, f/5.6, ISO1600, 1/1000sec — In Flight – D810, AF-S 500mm f/4 with TC-14III @ 700mm, f/5.6, ISO1600, 1/1000sec

Whilst waiting for the sun to come up I thought I’d shoot some film of one of the Owls flying as it was too dark for photos. However, there were a lot of Crows flying around and the Owl would not leave the tree in fear of being mobbed. As the video shows, he was keeping a keen eye on it’s surroundings.

{Remember to watch in HD if possible}

After a few failed attempts over the last few weeks, I got up before first light in hope to photograph a known location where Short Eared Owls have been showing well at first and last light.

Just as the sun started to rise above the tree line I wasn’t disappointed.

Whilst waiting, a Vole came scampering straight past where I was standing. I actually muttered something along the lines of “you’d better hide” and suddenly from the other side of the hedge I was backed-up against, a “Shortie” came swooping over. I’m not so sure who was more spooked, me, the Owl or the Vole. The Owl didn’t continue it’s swoop and the Vole survived being eaten.

The promise of clear skies wasn’t looking too great as a large thick cloud covered the sunrise. The Owl perched up in a tree, so I calmly walked towards it a few inches at a time. I got to about 20 metres and decided that was close enough. I quickly attached my 1.4x teleconverter to the 500mm and fired off a few shots.

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}

Short Eared Owl — Wide Eyed – D810, AF-S 500mm f/4 with TC-14III @ 700mm, f/8, ISO2000, 1/160sec – {Flickr Link}

Tag: short eared owl

Shortie In Flight (plus Video footage)

Early start in hope of Short Eared Owls