Posts in Category: owl
Crested Owl
Crested Owl: Gualpies, Costa Rica, May 2025 — A highlight of any visit with Cope is a prowl around the local forest in search of day-roosting owls. Cope generally knows where the Spectacled Owls are, and some years, he has a line on the Crested. This year a Crested Owl is roosting at the edge of the pasture at his parent’s farm. Easy. Though still a challenge to photograph in the darkness under the banana leaves. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. The image, in order to show detail in the owl, is much lighter overall than it was to the naked eye. It really was dark in there. 🙂
Resident Mottled Owl
Mottled Owl: Hotel Bougainvillea, San Jose, Costa Rica. March 2025 — The pair of Mottled Owls has been nesting and roosting in the big stand of bamboo by the swimming pool at Hotel Bougainvilleas for many years…exactly how many depends on who is telling the story. I first saw them in 2023. And they are here again to greet us. Carol and I just happened by this morning when the more visible of the two had woken up for a moment, to show us the eyes…not something I have had a chance to photograph in the past. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Denisons of the night 3
Pacific Screech Owl: Caño Negro, Costa Rica, December 2024 — As we continued our Owl Prowl around Caño Negro, we stopped at little pull off near flooded fields and played the call of the Pacific Screech Owl…and at least 3 individuals answer and continued to call around us as we searched. We found two of them. Again photos are by the light of a hand-held torch/flashlight. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. ISO 25600. Processed (including noise reduction) in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Denisons of the night 2
Barn Owl: Caño Negro, Costa Rica, December 2024 — As we continued our Owl Prowl along the Caño Negro we came upon this Barn Owl nesting in an old palm near an industrial building of some kind. Again these shots are in the light of a hand-held flashlight/torch. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. ISO 25600. Processed in Photomator (including noise reduction).
Costa Rica! Denisons of the night 2
Barn Owl: Caño Negro, Costa Rica, December 2024 — As we continued our Owl Prowl along the Caño Negro we came upon this Barn Owl nesting in an old palm near an industrial building of some kind. Again these shots are in the light of a hand-held flashlight/torch. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. ISO 25600. Processed in Photomator (including noise reduction).
Maine! Gift Owl
Barred Owl: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — Sometimes Owls happen. I was down on the ground photographing Trout Lilies in one of my favorite spots for aka Adders Tongue, Yellow Dog Tooth Violet. I had been down there for at least 10 minutes when I decided to stand up and move to another clump. When I stood, a big bird dropped out of the tree right above my head…no more than 10 feet above my head, and swooped away through the still bare trees to land in a big maple 50 yards into the forest. It must have been there when I walked in and I must have been right under it all the time I was photographing the lily. It took me a moment to process the fact that it must be an Owl. I could see it there sitting on a limb with its back to me, way too wide for a hawk, and its flight had been absolutely silent. Owl! I worked my way around, looking for a more or less unobstructed view, trying very hard not to disturb the bird any more than I already had. There was, of course, no ideal line of sight and though it was sitting in full noon sun, its eyes were in deep shadow. Still, a Barred Owl in broad daylight. That does not happen often, or at least not to me. OM Systems OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator. This is an image that required more than normal processing to find the eyes in their shadowed recesses, and to remove foreground obstructions, but, still…my best shot ever of a Barred Owl, and only the third one I have seen in Maine. What a gift!
India! Indian Scopes Owl
Indian Scopes Owl: Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — This Indian Scopes Owl was roosting, literally, right outside my room at our hotel in Sawai Madhopur while we were visiting Rathambore National Park. It was an old British Colonial hotel will expensive grounds and well shaded verandas all around. And owls! I photographed it from the ground one day and, here, from the second floor veranda at close range. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 4000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +.7EV.
India! Mottled Owl
Mottled Owl: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — One last Mottled Owl before we leave Keoladeo. We saw at least a dozen in our 3 days there. They apparently have no fear of humans. Sony Rx10iv at 591mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Eastern Screech Owl
Eastern Screech Owl: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — One last look at the little Eastern Screech Owl that was roosting over the boardwalk at Magee. It was there throughout my visit, but after this day, it moved over to a dense conifer about 20 feet down the boardwalk, and roosted mostly out of sight within the boughs. (That did not stop the crowds gathering at the spot trying for a glimpse.) He seems very intent on something in the undergrowth that I could not see. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom @ 1600mm equivalent (using the digital tele-converter). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th, -.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Eastern Screech Owl
Eastern Screech Owl: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — On my first walk around the boardwalk at Magee, someone pointed out this tiny Eastern Screech Owl perched in a hole in a dead snag right beside the boardwalk. This is one of a pair that is often along that section of the boardwalk where there is a nest box for their use. It was somewhere along there every day I was there, though it moved its day perch to a leafy tree just down the boardwalk where it was much harder to see. Here you see it doing what it does best…blending into its environment well enough to be all but invisible, while it keeps a sleep watch on what is happening around it. This is a small owl: as small as 6 inches or as large as 10, and weighing between 4 and 9 ounces. Not much bigger, really, than a robin…just rounder. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 1600mm equivalent (using the built in digital teleconverter). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th. Minus .7EV.