Burrowing Owl

Gallery: AvianPosted July 23, 20091,261 views31 comments

From yesterday at Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake. As Lia mentioned in her post, we've had a wonderful time with this family of owls for the past two mornings. These birds are full of fun and personality (esp the juvies) so even though I got many more "serious" images of them I couldn't resist posting one that showcased their occasional goofiness.

I was concerned that some of the belly whites might be too bright but the brightest are only 245 in a threshold layer.

40D, 1/640, f/9, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, taken from pickup window, cropped to 50% of original image

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

31 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 23, 2009 at 7:04 PM

Magnificent, Ron. I love this image. Absolutely no nits from here.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Christopher Tubbs on July 23, 2009 at 7:13 PM

Looks awesome to me, Ron. Well done

Registered on September 17, 2007, 25 Posts, 353 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on July 23, 2009 at 7:20 PM

Wonderful. Absolutely love it.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on July 23, 2009 at 7:30 PM

Ron, this rocks!

What a great pose! This is a real winner. Looks like a cover shot to me.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Mitch Erwin on July 23, 2009 at 9:27 PM

Ron, I'd take a photo like this 10 to 1 over a " serious" image any day. What a great shot!

Registered on April 24, 2006, 98 Posts, 656 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on July 23, 2009 at 10:16 PM

Wonderful image Ron, full of personality. I'm guessing they saw Lia first, and then reacted like this when they saw you.

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on July 23, 2009 at 11:10 PM

Terrific! I love this shot: the pose, the eye contact, the light, the image quality.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on July 23, 2009 at 11:13 PM

Ron,

I love the fantastic head angle you were able to capture, the light in the eyes, the wonderful detail in the feathers and the sharpness.

I especially like how you were able to show in this one image the curious and almost impish character of these young burrowing owls.

Exceptional and endearing image as posted.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 24, 2009 at 12:19 AM

Ron, this is awesome! One of the very best Burrowing Owl shots I have seen!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 24, 2009 at 12:31 AM

LOL!!
Love it!
Not a nit here..

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Kathryn Engle on July 24, 2009 at 12:41 AM

How do those birds do that? He's looking at you up side down.

Great pic and great capture of the moment.

Registered on June 1, 2009, 47 Posts, 53 Comments

Comment posted by Terry Sohl on July 24, 2009 at 12:45 AM

THis is so cool. Love the eye contact, and the detail is great.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 513 Posts, 6889 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on July 24, 2009 at 12:52 AM

These guys are so cute and full of character, excellent catch man!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Mason on July 24, 2009 at 3:24 AM

Just Brilliant!

Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 24, 2009 at 5:56 AM

Fabulous image.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on July 24, 2009 at 6:48 AM

Wonderful light and clarity Ron - the head gymnastics is a bonus.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Kedar Bhat on July 24, 2009 at 10:15 AM

interesting image

Registered on April 7, 2008, 77 Posts, 357 Comments

Comment posted by Harriet Holland on July 24, 2009 at 12:49 PM

Cool capture!

Registered on June 25, 2009, 10 Posts, 40 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 24, 2009 at 1:31 PM

What a character! Great image Ron

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Whum on July 24, 2009 at 4:50 PM

That's a really neat pose with the head turned like that. My kind of photo.

Registered on June 6, 2007, 131 Posts, 696 Comments

Comment posted by Douglas Graham on July 24, 2009 at 5:40 PM

Perfect. Its this kind of photo that makes all the money not the serious ones.

Registered on May 14, 2009, 123 Posts, 522 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on July 25, 2009 at 2:27 AM

Wonderful, Ron. One of the most charming shots I've seen posted in the forum. Simply outstanding.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on July 25, 2009 at 8:47 AM

Hilarious Ron. I love it

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on July 26, 2009 at 3:01 PM

Marvelous image. When I first opened it I thought of the word, Cuckoo. Made me smile.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on July 28, 2009 at 2:02 PM

So cool!

Congrats Ron!

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 28, 2009 at 5:08 PM

You had some great competition this week, Ron, but I have to admit that when I saw this post it had "Weekly Pick" written all over it.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on July 29, 2009 at 12:38 AM

Oh, my! I don't know whether to have vertigo or a wrenched neck from looking at this. An interesting and beautiful shot, Ron. Congrats on your double pick this week; you're on a roll.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 29, 2009 at 12:44 AM

Great shot, Ron - and congrats on the double EP this week!!

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 29, 2009 at 7:00 PM

Another well deserved recognition!!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Rosemarie Arbur on July 30, 2009 at 2:59 AM

Beautiful and funny: can't beat that combination. Congrats.

Registered on March 19, 2008, 189 Posts, 1644 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on December 24, 2009 at 1:14 AM

Ron,
I don't normally come over to the Weekly Winners, but was browsing through now that I got one over here and I found this winner. This is my kind of shot! I love getting unusual poses, especially of owls, and I really love this little guy. This was posted over in Avian during the several months that I didn't visit or post there. Thanks also for the comments on my shots.

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments