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.
Greater Spotted Eagle: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We saw a lot of Eagles, of several different species in our tour of Rajasthan birding hotspots, but this one that flew into a small island in the Keoladeo marsh, only about 50 feet from the road and our rickshaws, was the closest we got to one. He perched on a downed snag long enough for us to all get a good look and for me to get photos. That is a Painted Stork behind him. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1.3EV.