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Little Owl in flight

Gallery: Regional: UKNPPosted July 6, 2011353 views22 comments

Here is another from my recent project on Little Owls.

If you have ever seen these birds in flight then you will be aware that they often fly just a few centimetres above the ground. When I first discovered them they quite literally appeared to “vanish”. I would see one on top of a telegraph pole, blink, and then it was nowhere to be seen. A few seconds later, as if by magic, it just appeared on the next telegraph pole. What actually happens is that the bird vertically dives off the first pole , flies low and parallel to the ground to the base of the next pole then at the last minute heads skyward to the top of the pole.

To get any natural light underneath the Owls wings I had to take this image when the sun was just about to disappear below the horizon.

There are more images from this project HERE for those that are interested.

Canon 1DMK4, 800mm, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO1600

C&C welcome.

Cheers

Austin

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by Phil Ellard on July 6, 2011 at 6:13 PM

stunning, no other word will do

Registered on December 17, 2010, 60 Posts, 634 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on July 6, 2011 at 6:14 PM

Good !
JR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on July 7, 2011 at 1:34 AM

Austin ..a different perspective from the usual owl images ...well done ..nicely done ..

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Goddard on July 7, 2011 at 1:57 AM

Now that is a stunner Austin. I've not read your blog, but how did you get the bird to fly towards you ?

Registered on November 21, 2008, 66 Posts, 253 Comments

Comment posted by keith mitchell on July 7, 2011 at 2:52 AM

Austin this is superb.

Keith.

Registered on July 12, 2008, 127 Posts, 1735 Comments

Comment posted by Austin Thomas on July 7, 2011 at 3:56 AM

Thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated.

@Graham. I was camped out at the base of one of the telegraph poles lying on the ground.

Cheers

Austin

Registered on March 7, 2008, 45 Posts, 207 Comments

Comment posted by Sandra Hendrikse on July 7, 2011 at 4:44 AM

Wow, what a fantastic shot.

Registered on January 23, 2008, 48 Posts, 769 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Mason on July 7, 2011 at 6:15 AM

Stunning shot - and great reward for the careful planning that went into it. Very difficult with a subject flying straight at you.

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

Comment posted by Karen Summers on July 7, 2011 at 6:25 AM

As always Austin a stunning shot think this is my favourite so far, but saying that the one walking takes some beating

Registered on December 3, 2009, 83 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Zane on July 7, 2011 at 8:12 AM

Amazing shot ... clear, great dof, great balance ... just simply amazing!

Registered on June 4, 2010, 3 Posts, 14 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Lawrence on July 7, 2011 at 2:01 PM

Thats a hell of a shot to get head on with an 800mm lens. Lovely light as well.

Registered on February 13, 2008, 3 Posts, 163 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on July 7, 2011 at 4:54 PM

No nits whatsoever on this one, Austin. The graduated BG looks very good as does the head on approach You certainly have built up a very impressive collection of LO shots so hats off to you for all the hard work you have put in.

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Cole on July 7, 2011 at 5:48 PM

That's a beauty Austin. I can't recall seeing many little owl in-flight shots before. I particularly like the symmetry of this shot.

Matt

Registered on February 18, 2008, 17 Posts, 267 Comments

Comment posted by Bob Johnson on July 7, 2011 at 6:58 PM

Hi Austin. Top shot

Can I ask if the MK4 tracked it ok or did you pre focus on a spot on the gound? If was the MK4 tracking can I ask what focus point setting you used and what tracking sensitivity.

Bob

Registered on December 8, 2010, 17 Posts, 169 Comments

Comment posted by Austin Thomas on July 8, 2011 at 8:42 AM

Hi all, thanks again for your feedback much appreciated.

@Bob, I used the camera to track the focus, rather than have it manually set. I can't honestly remember the precise AF settings at the time. Typically for in flight I enable surrounding AF points and move towards SLOW on the sensitivity. I hope that helps.

Cheers

Austin

Registered on March 7, 2008, 45 Posts, 207 Comments

Comment posted by Barry Southon on July 9, 2011 at 12:32 PM

Austin

An absolute cracking shot.

Registered on March 13, 2006, 21 Posts, 150 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Litten on July 10, 2011 at 12:52 PM

Wow! Now that's a fabulous shot

Good work, Austin.

Simon

Registered on June 22, 2006, 24 Posts, 275 Comments

Comment posted by Malcolm Muir on July 10, 2011 at 1:40 PM

Wow!

Registered on August 14, 2005, 12 Posts, 66 Comments

Comment posted by Dave Bartlett on July 11, 2011 at 7:39 AM

Well planned and executed - can't think of too many better LO shots than this

Registered on March 9, 2008, 9 Posts, 113 Comments

Comment posted by Jeroen Stel on July 11, 2011 at 11:14 AM

O.M.G.....(Oh...my God...

), that says it all..
Stunner!

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Registered on November 10, 2003, 366 Posts, 481 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Rogers on July 11, 2011 at 4:02 PM

Hello Austin.

Simply excellent work love it.

Registered on January 16, 2007, 450 Posts, 995 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Haskell on July 12, 2011 at 7:12 PM

Top drawer capture Austin.

Ian

Registered on October 30, 2008, 24 Posts, 673 Comments